Takamachi Nanoha of 2814
by Shadow Crystal Mage
Summary: Takamachi Nanoha is the chosen Green Lantern of Sector 2814. She's beaten Precia, but now a new enemy is targeting not just her, but every mage and magical girl on Earth. The Battle Lines are drawn. The Linker Cores War has come to an end. X-over
1. A 9 Year–Old Is Now Suddenly A…!

A/N: A cracky idea conceived on a post-exam high…

...

Takamachi Nanoha of 2814

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 1: A 9 Year-Old Is Now Suddenly A…!

Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me. Please don't sue me.

...

He knew he was in deep shit.

His mission incomplete… utter destruction and chaos about to come to this world… weak… injured… he had a responsibility…

He sent out his will, and ordered his device to find a successor. And not just any, but the most powerful it could find... and bring them to him. He didn't have much time…

The enemy was upon him…

...

Takamachi Nanoha was having a perfectly average day. Get up, get dressed, admire how saccharinely close her family was, meet her friends at the bus, go to school, head home, hear mysterious voice calling her name…

Wait… that wasn't right…

...

Search parameters are highly subjective things. A difference in capitalization, spacing, any of uncountable little factors come together to really met up what you're looking for. Add things like the complexity of the parameters and the size of what is being searched, and you can get all sorts of weird results simply by miscapitalizing a letter.

He'd asked for 'most powerful'. Not 'oldest', not 'nearest', not 'most qualified', not best' or any of a number of other qualifiers that could have drastically changed someone's life. He'd asked for 'most powerful'.

The device did what it was told. It wasn't smart enough to think this might be a bad idea.

...

There'd been a big mess. There'd been little people who were annoyingly vague and obtuse. There's been a fairly sinister dark-clothed person who shot yellow energy. There'd been a minor moment of getting his ass kicked.

Superman was not happy.

Unfortunately, this was _also_ a perfectly average day for him. Even the annoying all-powerful small people hadn't been anything new.

...

Sinestro felt vaguely ashamed of having to take the ring from what was so obviously a child. He momentarily considered not killing the whelp when he took the ring. Clearly, this was some sort of mistake caused by some sort of half-delusional instruction Abin Sur had given the ring his final moments. There was no need to be a complete monster. Yes, he'd show the child mercy.

He was still patting himself on the back at this decision to make a nice little gesture when a cry of "_Nanoha Emerald Smasher!_" sent him half-way back to the United States.

It only got more humiliating from there…

...

For the first time since they realized the Manhunters might not have been such a hot idea, the Guardians were having second thoughts on an administrative matter. Maybe she _was_ just a bit too young. Certainly the Kryptonian seemed to think so, giving them significant looks over 2814's– the new 2814's– head. Given the fact she wasn't that much taller than they were, it wasn't all that difficult.

Well, she'd been chosen by her ring, after all, and highly advanced, perfected over several billion years search software can't be wrong now, can it? Besides, they'd be training her on Oa, helping her get used to her new station instead of just recklessly sending her into the field. And given the state of affairs on earth, they'd been considering an increased Green Lantern presence there anyway. The child gave them a suitable excuse.

And if the Kryptonian still had objections, well, he could take care of them himself, couldn't he? Although given her victory over Sinestro, they didn't see how there could be any doubt of her suitability.

"We welcome you to the Green Lantern Corp, Takamachi Nanoha of Earth, Lantern 2814.1."

...

_Several days later…_

"My name is Yuuno Scrya…"

...

**- To be continued...**

...

A/N: Meet Takamachi Nanoha, the cutest Green Lantern below four feet tall. Above that, it's Arisia. It as either this or make her Blue Beetle, and I'm already using that somewhere else.

This is based on the DCAU, though I will steal liberally from the comics when they have a cool idea.

Comics!Guardians have a scary tendency to be narrow-minded assholes, except for Ganthet, who at least tries. DCAU!Guardians, however, can be quite fun. It's implied they keep John Stuart on Earth to watch the soap opera that is his dating life, and one of them, in the GL OVA, when told by Sinestro to serve him or die, answered with "Go to hell!". That was a scene near and dear to my heart.

Next: The Green Devil is born!

And!

Fate Testarossa, you have the ability to instill great fear…

Please review, C&C welcome.

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	2. Enter Ragi–, er, RAISING Heart!

A/N: I am aligned to the Orange end of the spectrum, and am Powered with my Greed for reviews. Feed me! I want it all! _**MINE!**_

...

Takamachi Nanoha of 2814

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 2: Enter Ragi–, er, _RAISING_ Heart!

Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me. Please don't sue me.

...

"ALL RIGHT YOU POOZERS! YOU'RE HERE BECAUSE YOU'RE **SCUM**! YOU'RE JUST FANCY ANATOMY TO PUT A RING ON! BUT I PROMISE YOU POOZERS, BY THE TIME I GET DONE WITH YOU, YOU'D HAVE _EARNED_ THOSE RINGS, AND CAN KICK THE ASS OF ANY POOZERS STUPID ENOUGH TO PUT UP A FIGHT YOU COME ACROSS! NOW, DO ANY OF YOU POOZERS HAVE ANY QUESTIONS?"

A hand came up. It took a while to notice since even raised, it was still significantly below head-level of most of the lined-up cadets. "Um, drill sergeant Kilowog…?"

"WHAT IS IT, 2814?"

"What's a 'poozer'…?"

...

Nanoha had no idea how the Guardians had managed to make her training, which had taken a couple of weeks on Oa, turn out to be a mere half-day on Earth. Perhaps it was some kind of astral projection time manipulating resort in a bottle sort of thing.

Still, she went the bed sleeping the sleep of the just, and the just-finished-with-boot-camp. The next day was a perfectly average day. Get up, get dressed, admire how saccharinely close her family was, meet her friends at the bus, go to school, head home, hear mysterious voice calling her name…

Oh, poot! Not this again!

...

At the vet, Nanoha stared at the ferret intently. Her ring said it was tired and injured, but a quick scan of the surrounding area had revealed nothing she could make sense of. Well, it looked like she had her first case! Obviously, some mean person was going around hurting cute little ferrets. There would be JUSTICE!

…

Where would she start?

Hmm… maybe Superman would know, he did say she could ask him any time if she needed help or advice…

After cram school, Nanoha figured had just about enough time…

Ducking into an alley as she and her friends split off, she had her ring to a quick pulse scan to confirm no one was about before she raised her clenched fist, the ring appearing from under its invisibility field on her finger. Technically, she didn't need to do this, but a lifetime of magical girl shows had ingrained it into her, and now that she had the opportunity, why not?

"By the Power of the Ring, In the Name of the Guardians!

In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night,

No Evil shall escape my sight!

Let those who worship evil's might,

Beware my Power, Green Lantern's Light!

Magical Girl Green Lantern Nanoha, Make Up!"

She never lost the urge to giggle childishly whenever she did this. Bands of green light flashed around her, molding itself to her skin and replacing the clothes she wore. They melted away as she rose in twirled in the air. Sure, it was time-consuming, but there were standards and traditions for her to maintain!

The standard black bodysuit appeared around her, with the triangular green portion at her upper torso, the Corps' emblem on her chest. This, she had quickly decided, was insufficient, non-traditional, and a bit too revealing. The green bows on her hair took shape, in Corps shapes, dangling like bells. Next came wrap-around skirt modeled after something she saw in a video game, in Corps-black with green cuffs and trimmings, such as a big bow on the back and lacy frills and scalloped edges. The Lantern Emblem on her chest hung like a necktie, and ice, heavy shoes, excellent for stomping covered her feet.

She landed on her toes, cheating with a little levitation, and twirled just to see it all flare out as the mask painted itself on her face. She wasn't very satisfied with it, but it would have to do. She giggled, then cough to compose herself. "Ring-chan, find Superman and bring me to him, really quick! But don't forget to be careful about those sonic booms, okay?"

"Command acknowledged."

"Eh, what did I say about just saying 'yes'?"

"… yes ma'm."

"Good! And thank you, Ring-chan!"

"…"

"This is where you say 'you're welcome'."

"You're welcome, ma'm."

"Great! Now, onward! We need to get home in time for dinner!"

...

"Someone's… going around hurting cute little ferrets?" Superman repeated, just to make sure he'd heard right.

Nanoha nodded sadly, a determined expression on her face as she floated in the air, her legs crossed demurely under her skirt. "Yes, it was horrible! He was all beaten up and injured. My friends and I had to take him to the vet! I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do. Please help me, Superman-sama."

Superman winced. Oh, it was going to be painful, explaining to an eight year-old that there was just some things they couldn't fix. "Nan-, er, Green Lantern, sometimes–" he trailed of as he shifted what he was carrying.

Nanoha blinked. "Superman-sama, isn't it awkward having that plane on your back?"

"A little, yes."

"Need any help?"

"If you please."

"Happy to."

...

Nanoha had just put down her phone on its cradle and was just getting ready to go to sleep when she heard the voice again.

_Can you hear me?_

Nanoha paused, one eyebrow twitching. "Ring-chan," she said, "Do your audio records register anything being spoken by someone other than myself and you over the last… ten seconds?"

"No, ma'm."

_You, who can hear my voice, please! Please lend me some of your strength! Please, come to where I am!_

Nanoha looked hard at her ring. She really _should_ have learned her lesson about mysterious voices asking for her help…

She sighed. Well, she supposed that the life of a Magical Girl– no matter what the Guardians said, she knew that's what she was!– was always filled with strange events like this. "By the Power of the Ring…"

...

She flew, a green contrail glittering behind her. The Makibara Animal Hospital was just passing below her when a strange sound suddenly assaulted her ears.

"Ring-chan, ear-muffs," she commanded, and hard light rose up to her ears, shaping themselves into fuzzy bunny-eared ear protectors. They did no good against the sound, which was making Nanoha slightly dizzy and a bit nauseous.

"Warning: Spatial dimensional displacement phenomenon detected," her ring warned her. "Cause unknown. Detected energy inconsistent with spatial dimensional displacement effect."

The noise eventually receded, and Nanoha grimaced, letting her earmuffs dissolve. She was just about to initiate a ring-scan of the area when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned in time to see what looked like a van-sized tarry dust bunny pass through, crashing through the hospital's outside wall and into a tree across the street.

Nanoha came back to herself as the ferret leapt at her, and she instinctively caught it. "Wha– Ring-chan, what is that?"

"Unknown. Scan inconclusive. Matter cannot be identified. Suspected cause: magic."

"You… came for me. And did your ring just talk?"

Nanoha blinked and looked down. "Did you just speak? Ring-chan, did he just speak?"

"Yes, it did."

There was a roar, and Nanoha and the ferret looked up, realizing that the evil black dust bunny seemed to have recovered. Nanoha felt the urge to flee, but restrained herself, the warm feel of her ring and the thought of the loud and vehement disappointment of Drill Sergeant Kilowog made her hold her ground. She'd defeated Sinestro after all, and he was a _**VERY BAD MAN**_. She could do this! She held the somehow-talking ferret in the crook of one arm while she extended her fist, ring clearly visible. "By the authority of the Guardians of the Universe, I am a duly appointed officer of the Green Lantern Corp, Sector 2814, and if you are a sentient, cognitating being, then I order you to surrender to face possible Terran and Oan criminal charges!"

The evil dust bunny gave this no thought and attacked.

"NANOHA EMERALD SMASHER!"

The thing exploded into tarry goop as battering-ram like ring construct blasted through it, taking what was left of the wall behind it. Nanoha winced. "I'm sure I can fix that…" she murmured to herself.

There was a roar, and the thing shot out towards Nanoha, multiple goops bits coming together to smash her. She turned her body to put it between the thing and the talking ferret who was crying out in surprise, an emerald shield barely coming together before her lack of real concentration allowed it to be smashed apart. The thing struck her square, her energy aura taking the force, dispersing it across her body painfully as the backlash of her collapsed construct struck her mind. She flew back, instinctively snapping off a plain energy beam, which merely passed through it.

Shaking her head to try and clear it, Nanoha pushed off into the sky, a green firefly trying for air. "What is that?" she asked desperately.

"Unknown. As previously stated, ring scans are inconclusive. 87 percent probability it is a product of magic," her ring replied.

"I know what it is!" the ferret said in her arms, and Nanoha looked down at it. "It's the result of a Jewel Seed! It will take too long to explain, but it's something that I'm trying to recover! But I need your help for that!"

"What do you need my help for?" Nanoha asked.

"I need your power! I'll repay you! I promise!"

"I am an officer of the Green Lantern Corps. It's my job to help."

The ferret scuttled around as Nanoha began to dodge and shield to keep herself from getting hurt. She tried to counter-attack it, but her constructs seemed to pass through or at best only impede it. She was beginning to be really frustrated with this thing.

"Here!" the little ferret said, holding out a small red jewel in its teeth towards her. "Use this!"

"What do I do with this?" Nanoha said, hastily taking it into her ring hand making sure she didn't drop it.

"Just repeat after me…"

...

Nanoha looked down at herself, then at the staff in her hand, then finally at the ring on her finger. "Ring-chan, make a note: from now on, my Corps uniform is to look exactly like this, in Corps colors. Understood?"

"Noted and understood, ma'm."

The ferret stared at Nanoha, astonished at how quickly she'd gotten the hang of Ragin– er, _Raising_ Heart. "What kind of device is that ring of yours?" he asked.

Nanoha raised her finger, wagging it back and forth. "Uh uh, Ferret-san. It's my turn to ask things. What was that, and who are you? If I'm looking at possible danger to my sector, I need to know."

The ferret hesitated, but seemed to consider it a valid point. "My name is Yuuno Scrya…"

...

In the years to come, many things would be whispered of Takamachi Nanoha, the so-called 'Green Devil' of Earth. They'd say that she always fought with a smile, and that her enemies– those that lived and were female, anyway– had an oddly high probability of becoming her allies (something that caused her to appear in a ridiculously high number of hearings, both to stand as testimony and to prove her mind hadn't been compromised).

They say she talked to herself, a strange stick that she carried around, and her ring. The latter wasn't so strange among Corpsmen, who sometimes went long periods with no one else to talk to, but she was known for teaching it how to sing and encouraging it to develop into its own independent entity (also a cause for lots of hearings). Even afterwards, centuries later, that particular Ring insisted on being referred to as 'Ring-chan', was the only Ring who also acted as an independent Corpsman as times, and tended to get angsty every 365th day, supposedly on the death of the Green Devil herself.

Others say that she never died, and was transcended to a higher plane of existence, becoming a sort of anthropomorphic energy personification of Will Power itself. The remaining Guardians will neither confirm nor deny this, though they always look nervous when asked about it.

No one knows how much of these things is true. What IS known, however, was that on her third day of training, she caused the Great Oan Sinkhole, preserved from then on as a warning to cadets and Corpsmen alike not to be inspired by something called Sailor Moon, and was the cause of the first instance in which a particular ring construct was officially banned by the Book of Oa from use on Oa's surface. 'Ring Construct: Summon Sailor Saturn' quickly joined the ranks of such things as 'gazing upon the creation of the universe' and 'going to Gotham City without permission'.

Several weeks later, 'Ring Construct: Starlight Breaker' was added to a suddenly growing list…

...

And somewhere, Sinestro was plotting his revenge against a 9 year-old girl.

We know. _He _doesn't feel too manly thinking it either. But it's the principle of the thing, darn it!

...

**- To be continued...**

...

A/N: I know it's supposed to be 'Raising Heart', and 'Raging' is supposedly the result of a bad fan-sub, but I listened to the original Japanese track, and I can _hear_ the 'g'. They're _saying_ 'Raging'. It's right there in the audio!

I like DrillSergeant!Kilowog better than DCAU!Kilowog, so he's the one I'm using.

Will continue after I fishing the first season properly. I WILL find a way to make Fate a properly justifiable Yellow Lantern! The color scheme is too good to pass up!

In DCAU continuity, this is happening Superman's third season. By my reckoning, there's a year between that and the start of 'Justice League', by which time Nanoha will be eleven. That should be… interesting.

...

**OMAKE: Magical Girls' Might!**

Inspired by **Ryuus2** and a motivational poster

...

"Are you all ready?" Nanoha asked.

Usagi nodded on behalf of her team. "Ready!"

Sakura nodded as well, determined. "R-ready!"

"You can do it, Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo called out from the sidelines. "I have faith in you! Make sure to pose for plenty of panty shots!"

"HOEEEEEEEEE!"

Fate turned to her. "Did you have to bring your girlfriend along?"

"And the same to you," Evangeline shot back on the girls behalf. Fate colored and looked away.

"Illya and Mayu-chan are ready!" Illya said

One by one, the hosts of girls declared their readiness.

"Then repeat after me!" Nanoha called, raising Ragin– er, _RAISING_ Heart. "Let us, the Magical Girl Corps, swear our oath!"

As one, they spoke:

"In garb for play, in tightest tights!

We giggle and pose while we fight!

Let those who drool as we come in sight,

Ogle our action… MAGICAL GIRL MIGHT!"

The evil generic forces of the generic dark kingdom sweatdropped as this little bit of bad poetry was recited.

"WE ARE THE MAGICAL GIRL CORPS OF SECTOR 2814, AND BY OUR ASSORTED POWER, WE WILL PUNISH YOU!"

Far, far away, various conquering forces quietly took Earth off their 'Take-Over' list…

...

**END!**

...

I'm trying to think of a version of the Creed with the words 'loli' and panty' in it somewhere…

Please review, C&C welcome.

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	3. A Day In the Life of a Green Lantern

A/N: surprising as it may seem, this is only crack by virtue of the fact that _I'm_ writing it. In every other aspect, I'm trying to be serious. I might be failing utterly, but I'm trying. I _**WILL**_ have more examples of my work in TvTropes, darn it!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!

...

Takamachi Nanoha of 2814

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 3: On the Job: A Day In the Life of a Green Lantern.

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story.

...

Being a Green Lantern, Nanoha found, was a lot more labor intensive than being your average Magical Girl. _They_ just had to wake up late in the morning, be lazy, make a mad dash to school, have annoying siblings who were always there at inappropriate moments to complicate their life, fight random ghouls who could always be defeated by the attack you have at hand– unless it's an episode where you get character development, (read: _new powers_), in which case you had to have an emotional moment– and really spent most of their time worrying about boys.

Nanoha didn't see the point of boys.

Being a Green Lantern was similar, she supposed. She had a secret identity, she transformed, she fought for justice– admittedly or a more literal variety than most magical girls did– she had, in Yuuno-kun, a cute and fuzzy side-kick, and she had, in Superman, an older advisor who could actually assist, which is something most Magical Girls only _dreamed_ about.

Still, most Magical Girls only had to protect their town or city. If they were a deconstruction who were part of a sentai-team, they had to maybe at most protect the country. Green Lanterns had to protect 1/3600th of the known universe. Each.

When she told Yuuno this, he'd gone cross-eyed and looked like his brain was crashing. Nanoha had felt that way herself, but after she'd realized that most of space was exactly that– empty space– it had been much more manageable. Plus Earth seemed to be the 'bad neighborhood' area of her sector– a designation she felt mildly insulted and ashamed about– so most of the time she had to stay here anyway.

It certainly made for an activity-filled day, and quite an interesting schedule. It also seemed to have an unusual backlog of things that needed to get done…

...

Nanoha nodded in satisfaction as Raging Heart sealed the Jewel Seed that had been possessing the dog. Restraining it had been simple enough, and with the Intelligent Device Yuuno had given her, Sealing it had been even simpler. She'd had collected all of them already, if she had a choice, but unfortunately, the magical stones were proving to be frustratingly undetectable to her ring.

She looked down at herself. The white uniform she wore– a 'barrier jacket', Yuuno called it– was as frustratingly difficult to analyze for her ring as the deactivated Jewel Seeds. Her ring could tell her the jacket's specific density, thickness, weave, mass, volume, and other such but it was frustratingly blank of _what it was made of_. Ring-chan was as close to apoplectic as a ring could be.

It also resisted molecular reorganization, unlike her regular clothes. Still, that was an easy enough problem to deal with. A thought and an effort of will, and green light constructs had plasted themselves on it, giving her a suitable Green Lantern-y appearance. Have to uphold the dignity of the service, after all. Properly masked and greened, she took to the air once more.

After all, there were things she had to take care of…

...

Sakura and Tomoyo were flying from the site of the most recent crisis involving the Clow Cards when someone coughed behind them. "Excuse me…?"

They turned, nearly falling off in surprise.

A flying, masked girl, glowing green and holding a jewel-topped staff hovered next to them. She smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry to have to bother you, but are you the magical girls who were involved in–" she seemed to check the ring on her finger, above which some kind of notepad seemed to float. "– an incident where a giant girl fought a dragon?"

Sakura hung her head. "Hoeeeeeeee…"

...

Green Lantern-chan, Tomoyo thought, was very nice.

That did not mean she'd have second thoughts about bashing the girl's head in with her camcorder if she tried to take away _her _Sakura-chan. _**MINE!**_

Currently, the girl was nodding as Sakura finished explaining about the Clow Cards. "I see. Is there any indication of what this… end of the world will be like?"

Sakura shook her head. Green Lantern-chan made a frustrated sound. She looked at Keroberos who was stubbornly pretending to be a stuffed animal. "Don't you have anything to say?"

Sakura chuckled nervously. "Why would he have anything to say?"

Green Lantern-chan smiled at Sakura, not exactly patronizingly, but somewhere in the general vicinity. "I'm a magical girl too, remember? I know how these things go. Besides, my Deputy told me he was magical."

"Deputy?" Tomoyo asked. A cute little furry thing crawled up to Green Lantern-chan's shoulder. It was , for some reason, wearing a domino mask and a green and black sock-like outfit. "Oh, he's so cute!"

"Thank you," it said.

There was a beat.

Green Lantern-chan's smile became beatific, almost Tomoyo-esque. She resisted the urge to sue for copyright infringement. The saintly, mysterious smile© was hers! "I told you, I'm _also_ a magical girl. You don't have to worry about anything from me, Kinomoto-san, though I must ask you try to limit the property damage you cause and to be a bit more discreet. I _am_ concerned about the danger these 'Clow Cards' might represent to the people I protect. You seem to have the problem well in hand, but if you need help, feel free to call me, especially if you feel you might be getting in over your head. I know the tendency of magical girls in those kinds of situation is to just become more determined to do things with their own power, but there's no reason for you to need to do it lone when there are people who can help, and it could lead to a lot of people being hurt if you can't manage it."

"Hoe?" Sakura said, wide-eyed. "You…you're willing to help me? Really?"

"Of course!" Green Lantern-chan said. "That's what we Green Lanterns do. Besides, it would be nice for me to get a phone calling telling me what's going on instead of needing to find out on YouTube."

Sakura's eyes went wide. "YouTube?"

"Yes," Green Lantern-chan said, shaking her head. "There are a lot of videos of you there, fighting these Clow Cards. Most seem to think it's some kind of amateur fan loli panty-shot series."

Horrified, Sakura turned to Tomoyo. She smiled the saintly, mysterious smile©, clapping her hands together. "The world needed to know of the beautiful, sheer awesemoness of wonder that was Sakura-chan!"

"HOEEEEEEEEEE!-!-!-!-!-!"

Yuuno turned to a suddenly more animate Keroberos. He said hesitantly, "I'm sort of new at this. Is this what all 'magical girls' are like on your world?"

Keroberos gave him a flat, inscrutable, but somehow pitying look and raised a stubby arm, patting the ferret on the back. Yuuno's head drooped. "I was afraid of that."

"I find pudding helps," Keroberos advised. "Pudding and video games."

...

There was a giant turtle rampaging down the Ginza.

"IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE GODZILLA! WHY ISN'T IT GODZILLA?-!-?-!" some random idiot in the crowd asked.

"KA-NE-DA!"

"WRONG MOVIE, DUMBASS!"

A giant green hand suddenly descended from the sky, picked up the giant turtle and spirited him away. People cried out even more, pointing as the surprised beast was pulled into the clouds, and disappeared.

People waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

"That's it?" someone said. There was a general murmuring at this anti-climactic turn of events.

Some time later, city hall received an envelope. It contained a photo of the giant turtle, and a note saying, "Turtle-san is now far away and enjoying life as a member of the Atlantean Engineering Corps. Sincerely, Green Lantern, Magical Girl."

"P.S. If you need references, please talk to Superman-sama."

...

_RIIIING!_

"Lois Lane."

…

"I'll see Superman gets the message. 'Green Lantern', right? All right. Bye. _**CHIEF!-!-!-!-!**_"

Clark Kent, listening in a few desks away, blinked several times. Giant… turtles? What was Nanoha up to over there?

...

"WHAT? A NEW MAGICAL GIRL HAS APPEARED?"

Mizuno Ami winced. "Er, no, the news just says that a giant green hand appeared out of the sky and took the giant turtle away. Although city hall reports someone left them a note claiming to be the magical girl who took the turtle away…"

Everyone turned to look at Setsuna.

She shrugged. "Don't look at me. I'm not important anymore…"

"Oh, for crying out loud Setsuna, no one cares abut Pluto any more!" Haruka snapped. "So it's no longer officially a planet! Get over it!"

Setsuna's lip trembled. "BAHHHHH!" she cried.

Michiru sighed. "She's been inconsolable," she said to the others. "All those pictures at Deviant Art aren't helping."

"Go ahead, talk about me like I'm not here!" Setsuna cried. "After all, I'm not a planet any more, not like the _moon_, so why should _my_ feelings matter?"

There was a knock on the door.

After frantically scrabbling and trying to calm the depressed Time Guardian down, Michiru opened the door, and blinked, staring at the short glowing figure on the other side. "Yes…?" she asked a bit breathlessly.

"I'm very sorry to trouble you," the glowing green girl with the staff said, smiling politely. "But this is listed as the last known address of Tomoe Hotaru, and I was wondering if I could talk to her? I was hoping she'd be able to help me understand what happened at Infinity College some time ago, since I have to file the paperwork on it, and I'd like to interview her on her observations on the Sailor Senshi."

Michiru blinked. "The… Sailor Senshi?"

"Yes, I'm hoping to use her observations to somehow track them down to talk to them. I'm like to pay my respects to the country's senior-ranking magical girls," the girl explained.

"AH! A NEW MAGICAL GIRL _HAS_ ARRIVED!"

"IT'S GALAXIA ALL OVER AGAIN!"

Michiru sighed as the eavesdroppers behind her had hysterics. "I don't think now's the best time."

The girl blinked, looking around her slightly to see all the girls looking at her in wide-eyed panic. "Oh. Well, when it is, can you please tell Tomoe-san to call me at this number? It's very urgent I finish this paperwork."

Michiru accepted the card with the number on it. It, too, was glowing green, and slightly warm. "I'll give her the message. Um, who may I say the message is from?

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm the Magical Girl Green Lantern, at your service! And this is my deputy, Deputy-kun."

Michiru rallied. "Um, that's a very handsome… deputy you have there. With quite a fetching mask. And… uniform?"

"Thank you," it said, sounding slightly dazed.

Michiru nodded and closed the door as the girl turned away.

The other Senshi were looking at her, wide-eyed.

She held out the card. "Hotaru-chan, you have a message. Setsuna, where's the vodka?"

...

Shizuna knocked tentatively on the Headmaster's door. "Headmaster," she said, "there's a young lady here to see you. She wouldn't give her name, but she calls herself 'Magical Girl Green Lantern' and says she needs to talk to you about some paperwork?"

Konoe Konoemon gave the teacher a suspicious look through his eyebrows. "It's not anything related to Negi-kun again, is it? She's not another one of his…" he made vague circular gestures with his hand.

"No," Shizuna said, then added conscientiously, "At least not yet."

Somewhere, the multiverse shuddered at this idea.

"Well, send her in…"

A masked girl entered. "Excuse me Headmaster-sama, I'm sorry to bother you like this, but I'd like to ask you about this strange ionization in the air above your campus. Is it possible you have potential supervillains working in your campus' laboratories working on illegal energy experiments?"

The Headmaster thought of Chao and wondered just how he was supposed to answer that…

...

"Are you sure about your readings, Ring-chan?" Nanoha asked. She looked down at Fuyutsuki city. "It looks so peaceful."

"Positive, ma'm," her ring said. "Traces of irregular displacement of spatial dimensions. However, there appear to be no energy traces remaining capable of producing such dimensional anomalies."

"Hmm…" Nanoha thought. "Could it be magic, Yuuno-kun?"

"If it is, it would be very powerful magic," Yuuno said, holding on to Nanoha's redecorated barrier jacket to keep from falling. "We should scan for Jewel Seeds. "

Nanoha nodded. "Raging Heart, Area Scan!"

"Standby, ready."

"Ring-chan, maintain altitude!

"Yes ma'm."

Yuuno watched as Nanoha began scanning the area. It wasn't long before her eyes snapped open again.

"No Jewel Seeds," she told Yuuno. "At least not yet. But I think I found something I need to investigate…"

...

Green Lantern dropped out of a clear blue sky and said, to the four surprised girls, "Hello, I'm Magical Girl Green Lantern. Is there some sort of problem here? Some monster that needs to be vanquished? You see, I detected your energy and wondered what would need two magical girls…"

Illya took one look at Green Lantern and went "Ba-bump! Ba-bump!"

"Ah!" Illya said. "What is this feeling… I just felt an overwhelming pressure after seeing this girl!"

"Your MS (Maid-fetish Switch) levels have risen to over 53,000 Illya!" Kaleido Ruby said. "I really think you should suppress your power levels!"

The ferret on Green Lantern's shoulder sweatdropped. "Um, you know you said all that out loud, right?"

Miyu bowed. "We are perfectly all right, Green Lantern-san, we were just about to perform a magic ceremony to reset the local area's Earth Pulse to acceptable levels."

"Ah," Green Lantern said, looking a bit unsure what that meant, but seeming to accept it as benign. "Well, that's good. But should there be some kind of big emergency, like an evil kingdom from another dimension attacking, um, feel free to call me for help. Here's my number…"

Miyu politely accepted the green card Green Lantern gave her, and they watched as she flew back up into the air.

"Who was that girl?" Luvia said.

"Eh, probably some American Superhero," Rin said dismissively. "Come on, let's get back to work…"

An hour later, Kuro Illya was born…

...

"Magic?" Superman said warily.

Green Lantern nodded. "It looks like I might be running into magic a lot– nothing I need help with, it's just a small problem for now– but I wanted to ask you advice for dealing with it."

Superman stifled his instinctive groan of "I hate magic" and mused on this. "Don't get hit with it," he said half jokingly.

Surprisingly, Nanoha made a notebook and began writing this down. "And maybe you should learn morse code and sign language. If you're dealing with magic, sometimes this means getting transformed into something that can't talk."

Nanoha nodded, writing this down too.

"That sounds like good advice, Nanoha-chan," Yuuno said.

Superman blinked.

"Oh!" Nanoha said, looking embarrassed. "I'm sorry. Superman-sama, this is my deputy. Um… Ferret Lantern?"

"Nice to meet you," Superman said diplomatically as 'Ferret Lantern' gave Nanoha a _look_.

"Um, likewise," it said. "Though at the risk of my cover, my name is Yuuno Scrya, and I hope you refer to me as such. Ferret Lantern just sounds… weird. Sorry, Nanoha."

"Eh, well, it does sound pretty weird… oh! Ice cream! Can I have some, Superman-sama?"

Oh, why not? "Sure," he said, and bought them both a scoop. "You can tell me how you convinced Atlantis to take in the giant turtle…"

...

It was, Nanoha considered as she lay on her bed, a good day. There were no mysterious voices in her head asking for help or anything, a benefit she would _never_ take for granted again. She sighed in contentment, deciding to forget her now-slihgtly reduced backlog. Seriously, what was Abin Sur doing all this time? Chasing around apocalyptic prophecies?

She considered that thought.

Guardians, she hoped not…

_Are you sure it was such a good idea for me to talk to all those people?_ Yuuno communicated to her and by his tone, he was still a little embarrassed.

_It's all right,_ Nanoha assured him. _People expect things like that of their magical girls. Thanks to you, I managed to convince people I was a magical girl rather than some kind of space police._

_But… _aren't_ you some kind of space police?_ Yuuno said.

_Yes, I happen to be that too,_ Nanoha said. _But I am _truly_ a magical girl!_

Yuuno sighed and decided to roll with it. He wondered if other archaeologists had this kind of problem…

...

"Achoo!"

"Bless you, Indie."

...

"Achoo!"

"Bless you, Dr. Gates."

...

"_Achoo_!"

"Bless you, Syaoran-kun."

"Arigatou, Sakura-hime…"

...

"Achoo!"

"Bless you, Dr. Hall."

...

"Achoo!"

"Bless you, Mr. Garret."

...

"Achoo!"

"Are you well, Adam Strange?

...

**SUPERMAN ON MYSTERIOUS DATE WITH ALLEGED 'MAGICAL GIRL' GREEN LANTERN! REALLY 700 YEARS OLD OR IS MAN OF STEEL'S SECRET LOLICON TENDENCIES OUT?**

Clark really hated those tabloids…

Somewhere, Luthor smiled a mysterious, saintly smile– as opposed to the Daidouji saintly, mysterious smile©, which he totally stole it from– as he had his assistant Mercy blow up and frame that particular headline.

...

**- To be continued...**

...

A/N: And now, let's play spot the reference! I was going to throw Haruhi in there… but I realized even _**I**_ didn't have THAT much crack on me.

Yet. (dun den dun DUN!)

Nanoha's not using Raging Heart (I'm sticking to this, since it's what the audio is clearly saying) to scan for magic, rather, she's going through the backlog of stuff Abin Sur didn't get around to doing. The Ring can't detect magic, only effects and side-effects, such as the air above the World Tree being heavily ionized by magic discharge.

Archaeologist is a _really_ dangerous job that requires super powers just to survive. Or a really cool hat. And a whip.

...

**OMAKE: Time Travelers Unite!**

...

"Told you that wouldn't work," Rip Hunter said.

"So help me Hunter, if you say one word about that stupid 'solidified time' idea of yours, I'm blasting you to a Bad End Blackest Night timeline," Chao Lingshen growled. She set her luggage aside, wondering what she'd do with that oversized bust of her Ayaka had given her.

The time-traveler waved his hand. "Nothing like that. You were up against the Ten Thousand Master. Granted, he was still just a kid, but that's like saying Superboy is still just a kid. Of course you'd get your ass kicked."

Chao glared at him. She wondered if her power suit had enough juice to throw the bust at him.

"Anyway, look at it like this," Rip said, apparently thinking he was being helpful. "In Hypertime, everything that can happen, _has _happened_. _So obviously somewhere in Hypertime you managed to succeed."

Chao stared at him in horror. "We're not using _that_ again, are we? I thought The Kingdom was its own separate universe completely not in line with this timeline! They promised!"

"It is," Setsuna said as she strode up carrying a bottle of vodka. She glared at Hunter. "He's just messing with you."

"Am I?" he said mysteriously.

"CHAO, PUT THAT BUST DOWN!"

The British-esque guy with phone box walked it, took in the violence and, in a fit of linear thinking, decided to bother Yuuko at her store instead…

...

**END**

...

Please review, C&C welcome.

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	4. Legacy: Magical Girls, COUNTER ATTACK!

A/N: This episode takes place during the evens of the Superman: TAS series finale, way before Yue's Judgment of Sakura, a few Days before episode 4 of Nanoha, after the School Festival but before Ala Alba head for England, and somewhere around chapter 7 of Fate/KALEID LINER Prisma Illya 2wei!. Because I CAN do more than crack, darn it!

...

Takamachi Nanoha of 2814

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 4: Legacy: Magical Girls, COUNTER ATTACK!-!-!-!

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story. Also, I'm using 'Raging'. It's just more grammatically compatible with 'Heart'.

...

The world was attacked in the middle of the night. At least, that' s how Nanoha saw it.

Sirens, occasionally screaming and distant roars of engines greeted her as her sister shook her awake, as well as an occasional distant BOOM. The older girl was fully dressed, her jacket zipped tight. Two sheathed blades stuck out from her belt.

"Miyuki-neechan?" Nanoha asked fuzzily as she rapidly shook her head to clear it. It felt all too much like GL bootcamp under Kilowog, being woken at odd hours to go through hellish combat exercises. The other cadets had been quite resentful at how much she'd enjoyed them, after the surprise of the first time around had worn off. "What's going on?"

"Grab a jacket, Nanoha-chan," Miyuki said, straightening and heading for Yuuno's basket, where the little ferret was slowly rousing. "We have to go."

"Go?" Nanoha said, pushing herself out of bed and heading to her closet. "Go where? What's happening, onee-chan?"

"Invasion," Miyukisaid as she hurriedly bundled a confused-looking Yuuno– _Nanoha? What's going on?_– into a towel. "Invasion. Aliens are attacking. They've already crushed NATO and now they're– Nanoha? Where are you going? NANOHA!"

Nanoha dashed out the door, rushing past her surprised mother and her grim-looking father and brother. Their cries echoed behind her as she flew through the front door, running for all she was worth, her ring subtly floating and accelerating her for more speed.

_Yuuno-kun, stay with my family!_ she cried in her mind as she rapidly ran around corners to throw off her family's pursuit. _I'll handle this!_

_Nanoha! What are you doing?_ Yuuno called frantically.

_My duty!_

"Raging Heart, _onegai_! By the Power of the Ring, in the name of the Guardians…"

Seconds later, Green Lantern's light flew through the skies.

...

Sakura, Rika, Chiharu, Naoko and Meilin stared at the TV in horror as they watched CNN's coverage of the sudden invasion.

"Superman-sama," Naoko gasped, staring at the damning footage of the black armored man whose chiseled face was known to practically everyone on the planet. "No, it can't be! Why would he…"

Sakura clutched her key hard, conscious of the few Clow Cards she had in her bag a few feet away. She'd bought them to the sleepover out of habit, and was now dearly wishing she had them in her hands right that instant. Tomoyo had stepped out of the room a few moments ago, and Sakura could hear her conversing with the kinda cool ladies who were her body guards. There were muffled sounds of cupboards and drawers being opened outside the room, and a brief shout asking where the emergency stash of fuel was.

The door quickly opened and shut as Tomoyo returned, her normally tranquil and tropically sunny features now contorted into a small frown of worry. "I'm sorry everyone, but we need to change to a local channel," she said, and no one protested when she clicked the screen to one covering local news.

"– ask viewers to stay calm and remain indoors," the anchorwoman on Tokyo Ichi News said as a monkey pelted her with marshmallows. "The JSDF is mobilizing to meet the oncoming invaders, who are estimated to make landfall from the east within 15 minutes. This estimate is not solid, however, as they are reported to be using some sort of teleportation technology. Viewers are advised to clear the streets for military traffic and– wait, this just in. Observers report sightings of green and pink energy on the horizon. Though it is unconfirmed, witnesses report it is the same shade of green known to be associated with the Magical Girl known as 'Green Lantern'. Further reports say that Big Science Action is mobilizing in support, with Boss Bishonen, the group's unofficial spokesman saying they are entrusting the final line of defense to the JSDF, Super Young Team, and the rising new 'Magical Girls'. Hammersuit Zero-X is staying behind to help direct heavy artillery placement. In other news, the ban on whaling is once more–"

One of the security ladies stuck her head in, her long straight hair framing calm and professional pale eyes. "Oujo-sama, I'm afraid we'll need to shut down all non-essential electronics to conserve power. We don't know how long this is likely to last, but Tsunade-sama says we should be prepared for the worst. Your mother agrees."

Tomoyo nodded, turning off the TV with its depressing news as everyone let out of a breath of… well, not exactly relief, but slightly lessened tension. "Understood, Hyuuga-san. Everyone, follow me. We need to get down to the bunker beneath the house. It's safest there."

"B-bunker?" Meilin stammered. "No! We can't! My Syaoran-kun is still out there! I'm not going anywhere without him!"

Sakura gasped. "Outo-san! Oni-chan! Yukito-kun!"

"I will leave instructions for them and anyone else who shows up to be lead to the bunker," Tomoyo said, a microgram of annoyance making its way to her voice as she began chivying the others to stand and picking up Sakura's bag on the way. Had she not been watching for it, Sakura would never have noticed her friend's hands darting inside and pulling out a small deck of Clow Cards. "But we have to hurry! The estate's radar station is saying that some managed to get past Green Lantern-san and Big Science Action, and are entering our airspace! Time is running out."

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Sakura and company stared at the heiress. "You have your own radar station?"

"Mother does not trust Lex Luthor to not try and take over the world when we're not looking," Tomoyo said.

They stared at her some more.

"Hurry!" she chided them, and they jerkily began to move, Meilin still crying about Syaoran.

They weren't halfway to the bunker when shouts began to rise, and suddenly the air above the Daidouji estate lit up like it was New Year, a BOOM echoing through the air. In nightmarish rainbows of flickering strobe, what appeared to be flying tanks began to attack from the skies, followed by a hoards of gargoyle-like monsters.

Tomoyo's body guards moved themselves between the nearest windows and the girls, pulling futuristic-looking pistols out of concealed shoulder harnesses. Some began to return fire, only to stop at an angry command from Hyuuga-san. They moved to hug the interior walls, trying to keep out of sight of the windows and drawing attention with their movement.

Out of nowhere, a group of the gargoyle-like things crashed through the wall ahead of them, some shaking their heads to get plaster out of their faces. Others turned to the women and raised immediately identifiable gun-like weapons.

Sakura felt Tomoyo tackling her to the ground as Apokolips broke loose…

...

The Senshi had chosen their battleground. No one was hitting their favorite ice-cream parlor if they had anything to say about it!

"Pluto?" Sailor Uranus said as they waited for the attack they knew was coming. In the streets below them, people were hurriedly being evacuated, soldiers were taking up positions. "Did the Time Gates show you anything about this? You know, for future reference in case we live through this without getting killed again and I still haven't used up all my aggression?"

"Clouded, the future ish," Sailor Pluto said, looking up into the clouds from an adjacent building, holding the Time key almost casually, the Garnet Orb resting on the side of her head. "Ever-changing the waysh o' tomorrow are."

Sailor Mars gave her a sideways look. "Are you doing a Yoda impression, or are you just drunk?"

"Little bit o' both," the tanned one slurred slightly. She proved it by grinning widely. "Shtill, I don't know about you, but I think thish ish gonna be fun."

"_How_ could it possibly be fun?" Sailor Jupiter said.

"I getsh to kick ass," Pluto said, turning back to look at the sky. "_**PLUTO WILL ALWAYSH BE A PLANET, DAMN IT! SCREW YOU, RIP HUNTER! AND SHCREW THE INTERNATIONAL ASHTRONOMICAL UNION! PLUTO IS COOLER THAN ERIS!**_"

"You know," Sailor Mercury said consideringly. "This might actually be _good_ for her…"

Then the Parademons came, and the battle was joined…

...

"Trace, ON!" Kuro Illya cried, and another pack of Parademons fell to a hail of swords. "Is that the best you can do? Huh? HUH? Face m– whoa, mana rush. Need more power…"

"Maximal Schnieden!" Prisma Illya cried, waving Kaleido Ruby, the red wand producing the massive amount of beamspam that basically made up the attack. She turned to check up one her fellow magical girls and sweatdropped. "STOP MOLESTING MIYU IN THE MIDDLE OF A BATTLE, KURO!"

Kuro broke the kiss. "Shut up, I need more mana!" she snapped back, and dived back right in. Miyu looked quite embarrassed.

"I WANT A SABER!" Rin cried, her finger flickering as she sent blast after blast at her targets. "Gand! _Gand! GAND!_"

"Shut up, _shut up, SHUT UP!_" Luvia cried as she shot her own spells into the air.

...

The full moon would see blood spilled that night.

Evangeline grinned, an expression of pure ecstasy as she rose above the clouds, the little power the moon gave her surging through her body. "Come to me, creatures!" she cried. "Come to Dark Evangel! Know your DOOM!"

She laughed as ice began to dance between her hands. "Lic Lac La Lac Lilac…"

She didn't care one dead rat for Mahora Academy. But until either annoying Springfield finally lived up to their word to free her, it was the only place she had to live, and she'd be damned if she had to redecorate!

Plus the meat buns were _awesome_!

...

_I am Green Lantern of Sector 2814,_ Nanoha repeated to herself as she dodged a blast, its heat bloom being absorbed by her barrier jacket. An Emerald Smasher took out the Parademon and all his friends around him, sending them flying into the sea, broken. _I am Green Lantern of Sector 2814. I AM THE GREEN LANTERN OF SECTOR 2814! I WILL DO MY DUTY!_

She willed her thoughts to be true. Everywhere she looked, there were tanks and creatures and despite her best efforts, more and more were making their way to the mainland. She could already see flicker of light back that way, mostly lightings that dropped down into the same area too precisely to be natural, though there were slashing beams of energy as well. Big Atomic Battery Boy, perhaps?

A flying tank hitting her square on her energy aura bought her mind back to the present. Raging Heart's automatic 'Protection' managed to dampen the blow, and her barrier jacket and aura took the rest, Nanoha bouncing off the armored vehicle. Flier Fins glowed from her feet, catching her as ring-power was diverted to her aura, and she caught herself in mid-air, making a slashing motion with her ring-hand that sent a blade to tear the tank in half. She rode the shockwave of it's explosion away from it, and cursed herself– well, called herself 'poozer' very harshly– for fighting in the dark.

"Ring-chan, lights!" she cried. Glowing hoops burst forth from the ring, rising to the sky and glowing brighter, perverse Lantern Signal's bathing the sky in emerald light for miles around.

Tanks and Parademons filled the air as far as the eye could see.

Nanoha stared.

"This will hurt," Ring-chan said.

Raging Heart didn't make a sound, yet somehow managed to convey agreement.

Nanoha clenched fist, gritting her teeth. "By the authority of the Guardians of the Universe, I am a duly appointed officer of the Green Lantern Corp, Sector 2814, you are all under arrest! I order you to surrender to face possible Terran and Oan criminal and war crime charges! This invasion is in violation of Apokolips' treaty with New Genesis, and must cease immediately!"

Her wonderful audience responded by pointing every gun they had at her.

A random statistic Nanoha learned on Oa flashed through her mind. _The average length of a Green Lantern's service to the Corps before being terminated by death is five years. _

It looked like she wouldn't even have that.

Twin beams of heat and light shot out from behind Nanoha,

"Green Lantern-chan," an older man's voice said behind Nanoha. "I'm afraid we have not yet properly extended out thanks to you for so quickly dealing with the situation some weeks ago."

"Indeed," another man's voice said as Nanoha turned in surprise. Around them, confusion began to reign as Parademons found themselves under attack by more than just one girl. "It was very quickly done, though a tad anticlimactic. Still, the city quite appreciated the lack of collateral damage."

Rising Sun and Sunburst, two of Japan's most senior meta-beings flanked Nanoha, glowing with heat and light. She grinned, and bowed her thanks. "It was my duty and my pleasure," she said. "Shall we?"

They turned and rejoined the assault. There were a lot more people now, Nanoha noticed. Boss Bishonen, fiery hairy flickering in the night, was riding from attacker to attacker, setting them on fire. Ultimon, the last surviving member of the Ultimon Society, grappled with them in tens and scores, hurling them left and right. Dr. Light threw devastating bursts with nearly ring-like precision, and there were others Nanoha only vaguely recognized, if at all. An archer who stood on the back of a jet, arrows striking with lethal accuracy. And… where had that blimp come from?

"Aerial Chachamaru units, attack!" some lunatic wearing a lab coat called, standing on top of the huge vehicle. What appeared to be scores of winged girls with guns charged, meeting the Parademons head on. "REMEMBER CHAO! This counter attack bought to you by–"

"SO HELP ME HAKASE, IF YOU START ADVERTISING IN THE MIDDLE OF A BATTLE, I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!" a girl in skirts and armor with rather cartoony wings cried, her enormous sword cleaving flying tanks in half.

"Baka Red, please watch the names," a girl in meido and nekomimi said in passing, her wider, more realistic wings spread wide to catch the wind, twirling and slashing like she and the Parademons had choreographed this. "_Zantetsusen!_"

"Eh?-!-? Didn't I say my code-name was just supposed to be 'Red'? What's with the Baka?"

"My apologies, 'Red'. Force of habit."

"Well, make sure you don't forget it… Bodyguard GAR-Girl."

"Getting quite crowded," Sunburst commented as the three of them stood back to back, energy flashing in a classic Death Blossom maneuver. "Though I must say I don't recognize half of the young ones. Was that Shinmei-Ryu just now, Izumi-kun?"

"Looked like it. Haven't seen those people in a while. Not since we went to that inn over Hinata way. Kami, the things young people wear to battle these days."

"Yes. I feel young all over again."

"Takeo!"

"What? Maids are hot!"

Nanoha suppressed the urge to giggle. Suddenly, things didn't seem so hopeless now. There were the winged flying girls, and various vaguely Yakuza-looking people in suits flying around and blasting some sort of– _magical_, Raging Heart identified– energy blasts and spells.

One delicate-looking magical girl wearing a tan hood and robe had gathered lightning in her hands with a cry of "Rastel Mastel Magister" to blast a crowd gathering to storm the winged pair, before proceeding to beat the living daylights out of a group of Parademons that had come to ambush her, her bandaged wooden staff blurring. A black-caped girl who looked like the moe-moe version of Gundam Deathscythe cut her way through those in front of her. A blonde in black was directing black-cloaked, white masked forms…

Nanoha's heart suddenly felt very light.

_I am Green Lantern of Sector 2814… and I am not alone…_

"Divine Emerald _Bombardment!-!-!_"

Pink and green fire rained from the skies.

...

"Wah, Master looked so COOL! Just like Harry Potter!"

"Ruby Moon, would you please stop saying that and go back to fighting?"

"Eh, but Master Eriol does!"

He loved her, he really did, but sometimes he just missed Yue.

Besides, he was more into Dresden than Potter these days…

"_Fuego!_"

...

Tomoyo calmly blew on the barrel of her Lex-blaster 500, the faint wisps of heat radiating from it's barrel curling away. "Is everyone all right?" she asked her friends behind her.

There were hesitant murmurs of confirmation as the girls dared look up. The Daidouji estate's security forces had managed to rout the intruders away from the girls with a combination of concentrated fire, gas and grenades. Tomoyo's mother had lead the way, three bodyguards desperately trying to keep up with reloads for her rocket launcher.

"Daidouji," Meilin said hesitantly. "Where did you learn how to use a gun?"

"Oh, it was part of my self-defense course. Mother takes my safety very seriously, though I mostly do it for fun these days," Tomoyo explained brightly.

"Tomoyo," Sakura said breathlessly. "You're cooler than me."

Tomoyo looked scandalized at the very idea. "Oh no! No one is more wonderful than Sakura-chan!"

Sakura's head drooped. Well, it had been worth a shot.

Tomoyo's mother Sonomi returned, a necktie tied around her head and her rocket launcher slug over her shoulder. "We should hurry on to the bunker girls. The guards won't be able to hold them off forever. And it appears of friend of yours arrived at the gate a few minutes ago. I had the guards cover his run to the house."

Syaoran's sword was completely covered in blood, but he looked like his was at his usual good temper, that is, not very. "Meilin," he said without preamble as his butler Wei came up behind him, an assault rifle in hand and a soft golfbag filled with various other gear over one shoulder. "Didn't I tell you to call if anything happened? Honestly, why do you keep forgetting to carry you cellphone around with you?"

Meilin's eyes brightened at the sight of the boy. "Syoaran! You came to rescue me!"

"Well, you are my cousin…" he said, sounding a bit sulky, but Sakura could see the relief in his eyes.

Wei sighed. For a moment, he wondered if he should have taken up Pennyworth's offer to join him in Gotham City, all those years ago. Certainly it would a lot less hectic than life with the Lee Clan could be…

Sonomi coughed. "Well, this is all well and good, but we'd better be getting to the bunker before we run out of ammo. Reports say the Americans have dealt with Superman, but the fighting's still going on. Best to be safe."

Sakura looked around. Serendipitously, they were close to one of the mansions many bathrooms. "Um…" she glanced sideways at it.

Sonomi nodded. "Be quick."

Sakura dashed to the door, and began ruffling for her key. It might be a bit late now, but still…

"SHIELD CARD!"

...

"I hope Nanoha is safe," Momoko said, as she cooked some food at the Midori-ya's kitchen to take her mind off things.

Shiro nodded gravely. He was taking a momentary breather from the fighting, getting a bleeder under control. Outside, Akira, Feng and Miyuki fought the few Parademons that made their way to the area, while Kyoya ran interference to allow panicked neighbors into the safety of the café. "If anything happened to her…"

Yuuno curled up in his towel, trying to keep the light from his spellcasting small so as not to attract attention as he put what subtle barriers he could around the area. He could tell Nanoha was still alive, but beyond that, nothing. _Nanoha…_

...

The battle lasted well into morning. Whatever the Americans said, it had not stopped when they shot Superman. The reports of this caused confusion and outrage in many areas, and a few fights broke out as a result of this.

Nanoha found her way into the Midori-ya just before noon, gave a rather confused story about going to see if her friends had been all right but getting lost until she was found by Green Lantern, and fell asleep almost on the spot. No one pressed her.

...

_Several days later…_

The ring was a godsend when it came to rebuilding. Although the fighting had been short, it had been fierce, though fortunately without the mass leveling experience at the end of World War Two. Fires and structural damage were the worst of it, but all in all it looked like the result of a moderately strong earthquake than an invasion.

Nanoha was occupied for the next several days with helping rebuild and filing her after-action reports to Oa. Big Science Action and the younger Super Young Team had officially and unofficially thanked her, and she'd been able to finally meet with the Sailor Senshi, which had been nice. She needed nice.

Uminari city, thankfully, hadn't been badly hit. That time when the giant tree had been grown by the Jewel Seed had caused more damage, actually. School had resumed only three days later, to the annoyance of all.

When she was done, she looked for Superman.

The world had heard the story, that he'd been tricked and brainwashed in it, and the news was still filled with opinionated people on all sides. Nanoha didn't listen.

She found him in Metropolis, standing on the roof of a tall building with a big golden ball on top of it. When he turned to her, his movement abrupt and sudden, he looked like he expected her to hit him with Raging Heart like a bad puppy. "Green Lantern," he said nodding to her politely, distantly. "I've heard about al the good work you've been doing. Well done."

His eyes made her heart wrench. They were deep and pained and guilty, and they made him look so old.

Abruptly, she ran towards him, throwing her arms around his waist. "It's all right," she said quietly, fervently. "It's all going to be all right. You'll see. It'll be all okay."

She felt his hand tremble as he put it on her head. "Thank you," he said.

...

**- To be continued...**

...

A/N: All right, so maybe it was a bit cracky. The invasion as depicted in Legacy seemed too small for Darkseid, who must have at least harbored the possibility it would work. I'm choosing to believe it was bigger than depicted, due to a limited animation budget. Besides, there's no point waiting until the JLU series finale…

For some reason, Negima has _really_ made me come to like the phrase 'Counter attack'…

Hiding mage society might actually be easier in a world where you can pin it on metahumans, dark gods from space and aliens. Not to mention having people like Zatanna, Doctor Fate and Magical Girls giving people the completely wrong idea…

Super Young Team. Big Science Action. They have not been mention since Final Crisis and its spin-offs. A pity. They sounded fun. I mean, they had members with names like Shy Crazy Lolita Canary and Boss Bishonen! That's my kind of crack!

Magically, no one will need therapy or ask any awkward questions.

The Piffle World events of Tsubasa have forever engraved the image of a lasergun-totting Tomoyo into my mind.

Does anyone else think Tsukuyomi is crazy enough to set off Blackest Night?

Nanoha is obviously channeling the spirit of Gundam Zero Type Wing, and Fate is obviously the Avatar of Deathscythe. Also, I personally suspect that Negi's Release Key is more properly Latinized as "Last Tale Master Magister…"

Please review, C&C welcome.

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	5. One Year Later

A/N: Yay! **SG** read my fic and reviewed it. The one who got me into fanfiction likes my work! Happy dance time!

(shrug) Hey, we're all inspired by someone… LONG LIVE _**SIMPLE WISH**_, WHICH PROVES SI's CAN BE COOL AND FUN!

I will also be doing 52 short fics, one for each week of the year leading up to these events! With lots of tie-ins! And SOMEONE WILL DIE! Someone will pretend to be a hat! Black Adam gets some! And most controversial of all, BAT-LESBIAN! TvTrope it, dattebayo!

...

Takamachi Nanoha of 2814

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 5: One Year Later: Gay– er, that is, CRY– For Justice!

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story.

...

_One Year Later…_

"SUGOI!" Green Lantern cried, looking around the spacious and shiny interior of the new 'Watchtower'. "It's so big!" She spun and twirled in midair, looking around, wide eyed. "How did you make this?-!"

"Trade secret," Batman said, not looking up from his computer console. All in all, the concept of Green Lantern– a ten year-old girl with a nearly-all powerful mind-controlled weapon guided by will and imagination– terrified him. The fact she _seemed_ to be happy, well balanced young girl wasn't helping. He'd _heard_ of the crazy stuff they did in Japan. There was no way she could actually be this normal.

"Green Lantern! Green Lantern!" a young boy, his light-brown hair cut in a page-boy style, called out, domino mask firmly on his face as he came from a side passage with Wonder Woman and Flash right behind him. "The kitchen is HUGE! We can bake a cake and everything!"

"Yay! Cake!" Green Lantern cheered, swooping down and taking the boy's hands in hers as the two of them began to dance around in a circle. "Cake!"

"Cake!" the boy agreed, twirling around with her. "Cake!"

"Cake!" Flash joined in, and the two made as space for him as they danced. "Cake!"

Wonder Woman chuckled. "Well, they seem happy. What was Green Lantern's friend called again?"

Superman's smiled. "I'm not sure," he said. "But he used to go by 'Ferret Lantern'."

Batman nearly choked. "You're kidding." _Please_ let him be kidding.

"Nope."

...

_One Year Before…_

Boss Bishonen looked at the paperwork in front of him. Green Lantern-chan, bless her soul and all, seemed disturbingly prompt with her paperwork. "Ultimon, did your society have any records of ever fighting giant kittens?"

The rather stiff-faced hero considered this. "They fought Hobesu, the giant tiger, servant of Karibinu, and similar things along the same lines, but no, no records of giant kittens. Why do you ask.?"

Boss Bishonen waved a piece of paper. "Green Lantern-chan filed a report of fighting a giant kitten in the area of Uminari city. She says, and I quote, 'it was a big baby really, and seemed more curious than anything else'. She says she was able to shrink it back down to size."

Ultimon considered this. "No tossing it into a volcano or making it explode just as her power was about to run out?" he said hopefully.

"Nope. And don't you start about that. You should know as well as I do only really evil people kill kittens, giant or otherwise."

Ultimon deflated. "Still, it's just not the same, defeating giant monsters with non-violent means."

"She says she nearly set a forest on fire."

"What? How come?"

"Another magical girl showed up."

"Eh, well, magical girl business. Probably arguing over who could make the most boys fall in love with them so they can become the queen of Shrimp Manju Land, or something like that. Best leave it to them."

...

"Another magical girl collecting the Jewel Seeds," Nanoha mused as she lay back on her bed, her ring sound-proofing her room. Since she'd learned her lesson the last time she did this, she also made sure to set a listening device so she'd know if anyone knocked on her door or anything. "I think I remember her from a few days ago… she was the little Deathscythe-chan who was there helping us fight down invaders."

Yuuno sweat-dropped over his pudding cup. Keroberos was right, it _did_ help a little! "Um, well, regardless, we can't allow her to regain the Jewel Seeds. The distinct possibility exists that she's some kind of agent of evil. After all, she wears a lot of black and has a tight outfit that shows off her body."

"The standard Green Lantern is mostly black and is tight and I'm not evil," Nanoha retorted, then paused. "Yuuno-kun… why do you say that?"

"I've been reading your sister's Magical Girl manga. It's all there…"

...

Miyuki glared at her shelf. "WHO'S BEEN READING MY MANGA?-!-?-!"

...

"WHAT?" the Senshi chorused. "A NEW MAGICAL GIRL HAS APPEARED?"

"Crap, we're doomed!"

"It's Galaxia all over again!"

"I just got over being dead! Again!"

Nanoha blinked at the reactions of some of the Senshi. She'd contacted them to give them a warning in case this 'Fate' girl showed up in Tokyo, but she hadn't expected this. "Huh?"

Sailor Mercury smiled wanly. "Don't mind them. You see, every time a new magical girl appears, there's a good chance that we'll die."

Nanoha looked Mercury up and down critically, then scanned her with Ring-chan. "You don't look dead."

"We get better. But it's all very traumatic. Plus Teleute-chan says we're pissing off someone named Nekron…"

...

Somewhere, escaped convict Tsukuyomi (no known other name), formerly of the Shinmei Ryu and Cosmo Entelechia, was killing things. Because it was FUN! And the colors were so PRETTY! And it made the nice voice in her head so HAPPY!

"The blackest night falls from the skies," she sang, "The darkness falls as all life DIES…"

...

Nanoha sighed, depressed. She'd kept up with the happy chatter during the initial leg of the trip to the hot springs resort she and her friends and family were heading too, but now that they'd reached the midpoint and Alisa and Suzuka were napping, she let herself slouch, looking forlornly out the window.

_Nanoha?_ Yuuno asked, concerned. _What's the matter? You've been like this the whole trip, and it's quite unlike you. Are you being possessed by the forces of evil without you knowing it?_

Clearly, Yuuno had been doing his research properly.

Nanoha suppressed a loud sigh. It wouldn't do to attract her parent's attention. _Superman warned me about this. Doctor Light was nice enough to warn me about this when I ran into her yesterday. The Senshi warned me about this when I mentioned it. They can't __**all**__ be wrong…_

_Wrong? About what? Nanoha, what did they warn you about?_ Yuuno asked.

_There is no such thing as a vacation for a superhero OR a magical girl_, Nanoha said morosely. _We're going to run into something here, and there'll be a fight, and there goes my vacation. I charged up my ring to full this morning, and didn't use it at all so it stays at full power. Because I'm definitely going to need it._

_Nanoha, that's silly! Going on vacation cannot possibly raise the probability of something going wrong!_

Clearly, Yuuno hadn't quite made it _that _far into his research…

...

"See Yuuno? I told you so! Fate-chan, I'm afraid I must ask you to step away from that Jewel Seed."

"… No."

Yellow, Pink and Green Hilarity Ensued.

...

"She beat Nanoha!" Yuuno said, pacing and quite concerned, watching the sleeping Green Lantern out of the corner of his eye. "This is bad, this is very bad…"

"While certainly a cause for concern, the outcome of this battle was not overly disastrous," Ring-chan said quietly, floating around behind Yuuno. "She clearly outclassex Lantern Nanoha in practical combat applications of magic, combat reflexes and initial speed, but Lantern Nanoha was more than able to compensate with my help. And the combat data collected from the incident will be of great use in changing the outcome of future encounters."

Yuuno turned to squint at the ring. "Shouldn't you be on her finger or something?"

"I have been given no orders to do anything," Ring-chan said primly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll just go and rub it into Raging Heart's face how useless it was."

...

Clark Kent went on vacations– sometimes– but he'd quickly realized that unless the vacation was to Smallville so he could be with his parents and see childhood friends, it was almost _guaranteed_ that eventually it would include a job for Superman.

Still, he was never if not hopeful, so some times, when he felt particularly daredevil-sh, he'd file for some time off and take a vacation. It never ended well, but at least this time he knew how it would end. He kept a small collection of souvenirs, such as terrorist bullets, fangs, and other little mementoes of things that had tried to ruin his day.

The day Nanoha had showed up, horribly aggrieved at her vacation being ruined, he showed her his collection and explained why he had it. Green Lantern had left with a thoughtful look on her face, and Clark would later hear she'd begun to collect postcards with after-action reports written on the back.

All in all, a good days work.

Though he'd have to keep an eye on Yuuno. He'd seemed a tad _too_ red when Kara had been snuggling him to her chest…

...

Never let it be said that Green Lantern was too prideful to accept training. She, Yuuno, Ring-chan and to an extent Raging Heart quickly worked out that as good as she was with a power ring, she needed to familiarize herself with magic more. Problem was, Yuuno really wasn't that good at the combat aspects of his magic to begin with– he said Nanoha had already surpassed all he knew– so Nanoha had to creatively find someone to teach her.

_Dr. Fate_

"So… it's not just ALL from your hat– er, helmet?" Nanoha said.

Dr. Fate shook his head. "Alas, no. Though the Helmet of Fate gives me great power, it has only been a gateway for me to realize my own strength, and now a tool to help me control that strength."

"Which you had to earn from long study?" Ferret Lantern– darn, he needed a better name!– said, stating the obvious.

"Yes. Though I seldom take the time to teach others, occupied as I am with my own studies and duties, as a favor to Superman I am willing to help you learn," Dr. Fate offered.

Green Lantern perked up. "Really?"

"Truly. In about three years, you can complete an apprenticeship…"

Green Lantern deflated. "Three years… so, no chance you can teach me enough to counter another magical girl in a fight that might happen in,say, three days?"

"Uh, not likely. I _am_ sorry. But if I may, a piece of advice: if you will be fighting a magical girl _as_ a magical girl, would it not be best to learn _from_ a magical girl?"

Green Lantern perked up again. "Hey, that's right. Thank You, Fate-sensei!"

"A cookie before you leave?" Inza offered. She couldn't help it, the little Lantern was so cute!

"THANK YOU, INZA-SAN!"

_Zatanna_

"Uh, sorry kid, but I'm the wrong kind of 'magical girl'," the Logomancer said, watching the little Green Lantern seem to wilt slightly at these words. "Tell you what though, I might know some people who can help you. And they're in your general area too, so no long commutes. Let me just get me address book… ah, here we are, Mahora… Anyway, it sounds to me that the best way to defeat a magical girl is to keep them from using magic. These people shold be able to help you with that."

"Oh, thank you, Zatanna-san," Green Lantern said. "Oh, would you like a cookie? Dr. Fate's wife made it. it's really good!"

"Hey, thanks! And here, have a souvenir."

"Wah, that's a nice hat!"

_Evangeline A.K. McDowell_

"WAH! SUPERMAN! KILOWOG! SAVE ME! MOMMY!"

"Oh, stop whining girl! So you nearly get impaled, isn't that a normal hazard for you superhero types? If you can't handle a little light training, then you're not going to last long in life!"

"FLASH MOVE! FLASH MOVE! FLASH MOVE! _Raging Heart, why aren't we Flash Moving?-!-?-!-?-!-?-!-?-!"_

"Flash Move requires a period of refresh."

"I'M GOING TO DIE! AND IT HASN'T EVEN BEEN FIVE YEARS YET! I'M NEVER TAKING OFF RING-CHAN AGAIN!"

"Hey, you came to me kid! Stop being ungrateful! You're lucky I was bored enough to take some time out of my day to train you! Now, see if you can take this! _Lic Lac La Lac Lilac…_"

Outside, Yuuno and Ring-chan stared at the bottle. What was going on in there?

_And that was the end of Nanoha's search for Magical Girl training…_

...

Nanoha staggered home, so completely out of it she didn't even notice Shinobu, Mikuyi and Kyoya making out in the sofa. She got dressed and flopped down on her bed, trembling.

How was she supposed to learn enough about magic if everyone who was in a position to teach took too long, wasn't compatible or was just plain scary? Oh, Evangeline-chan looked like she wouldn't really have killed Nanoha– her eyes seemed to kind for that– and she'd kindly given Nanoha something to wear while her undies had been cleaned and dried. She'd even complemented Nanoha on her new hat, and given her a nice new bow to put on it. But still, Nanoha shivered.

If only Raging Heart could answer her questions about how to use it like Ring-chan could. Ring-chan was very convenient that way, having a help menu annotated by billions of years of generations of Green Lanterns.

Nanoha paused and considered that.

"Raging Heart, do you have a help menu? Or a Users Manual?" Nanoha asked.

Yuuno slapped his face. Why hadn't _he_ though of that?

"Tutorial Mode, Set Up. Stand by. Ready. Please briefly answer this questionnaire to ascertain training settings: What would you choose, a sword, a magic staff, or a shield? What Alignment do you see yourself as: Lawful Good, Neutral Good, Chaotic Good? Please roll 4d6 and remove the lowest roll…"

...

The next time they fought, Fate and Nanoha felt more evenly matched. She still had to concede the Jewel Seed, however. Anyone insane enough to put her hands around what was essentially a bomb deserved to keep it if it didn't kill her…

...

**- To be continued...**

...

A/N: Goeff Johns is good. Not only did he give Dex-starr a plausible reason for joining the Reds, he was genuinely able to do so while pulling heartstrings. GO, RAGE-CAT! FIND AND KILL THAT EVIL BASTARD!

Because rage has to come from somewhere…

Teleute is Gaiman-Death, and is THE personification of Death. Nekron is the personification of Empty Darkness/Entropy, and he just _thinks_ that's death. His connection to deadness has more to do with Emotional Spectrum wavelengths, unlike Death herself, who is the event personified. Nekron handles the bureaucracy of dead souls, which happens AFTER you die. See, it all CAN make sense.

If you watch REAL closely, you'll see Fate WAS mentioned last chapter…

Cookies… hats… ribbon… surely I must have some secret purpose for giving these to Nanoha, right? Bet you can't guess why… :-p

Sorry, but I doubt even Nanoha has the nerve to not be traumatized by Evangeline. The reason Ala Alba can is because they're all a little nuts already…

Had a thought: Thunder God-Mode Negi teaching the Flash Martial Arts. Because really, who else can keep up with the guy long enough to teach him anything in that field? He'd never survive Rakan, after all…

...

**Deleted Scenes: Contracting Out For A Hero**

...

Takamachi Nanoha, Green Lantern, needed to find someone. This 'Fate' girl was proving to be frustratingly unlocatable by her ring, and it was a fortunate twist of fate– heh, pun!– that she'd spotted this add just when she'd been pondering this question.

She dialed the number and waited.

"Moshi moshi. This is the Tendo Dojo, Kasumi speaking" a young woman's voice said.

"Ah, this is Green Lantern. I'd like to talk to," Nanoha checked the ad again, "the Great Detective Tendo Akane. Is she in?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, you just missed her. She left for England yesterday on a class trip. Would you like to leave a message, Green Lantern-sama?"

Nanoha sighed. Well, there went that idea. "No, thank you. Thank you for your time."

Putting down the phone, she picked it up again and tried another number. "Hello, is this Mori Kogoro's office? This is Green Lantern…"

...

**END!**

...

Had to use all my willpower to keep from putting this in the main fic and making it cannon. I have hereby depleted all my Green and am very deeply in the Orange end of the spectrum. I want a hamburger. And reviews. And a hundred hamburgers! And a thousand reviews! I want it! I WANT IT ALL! _**MINE!**_

Please review, C&C welcome.

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	6. And Now, For Something Different

A/N: Having Gone through Miyazaki Nodoka's entry in TvTropes, I now dearly want to write a scene where Nodoka defeats _**Batman**_. She could.

Daidouji Tomoyo's mind is a very dangerous place…

TvTrope it, dettebayo!

...

Takamachi Nanoha of 2814

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 6: And Now, For Something Completely Different…

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story.

...

Nanoha thought she was just getting a handle on things. Granted, there was some strain with her relationship with her friends and family, who were all becoming worried about her, especially when she showed up slightly hurt because she missed some detail for Ring-chan to remove to cover up the fact she'd been in a fight– whether with Fate, some giant monster that she'd run into before Big Science Action did, that seemingly-renegade magical girl Kuro Illya, a random ayakashi with a taste for human flesh and not much sense, common garden variety criminals, uncommon special order variety supercriminals mostly working as Yakuza muscle and whatever else the day had involved– but Superman and the most everyone she'd talked to had warned her about that well in advance, so she'd been able to brace herself, though it still hurt. All in all, she was finding a rhythm to her life

And then the TSAB showed up.

She wondered what form she had to fill up for this…

...

It had been a nice, normal day. Get up, get dressed, admire how saccharinely close her family was, meet her friends at the bus (though Alisa seemed agree and avoiding her today), go to school, briefly transform into Green Lantern ad fight crime/evil/giant monsters, head home, _not _hear mysterious voice calling her name…

Bliss.

She'd even partly expected the fight with Fate, giving it her all, as usual, while Ferret Lantern dealt with Arf. There had been that dramatic Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny moment…

And then a boy had appeared out of nowhere.

Nanoha almost wished for the voices in her head…

...

"I am a government official from the Time-Space Administration Bureau, Chrono Harlaown," the boy who had appeared oh so dramatically said. "I will need a detailed explanation about this from the two of you! Firstly, withdraw your weapons!"

Hilarity Ensued.

"Could have told you that wouldn't work," Green Lantern said sympathetically, patting the boy on the shoulder.

He threw her hand of him, glaring at her angrily. "I'd have had her if you hadn't put yourself in between us!" he said.

"You might have killed her," Green Lantern said. "As a law-enforcement official, I could not allow that to happen."

Chrono narrowed his eyes at her. "You? Law enforcement? Wearing _that_?"

Nanoha said nothing, merely giving his clothes a pointed look.

An image suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and Green Lantern jumped, her left hand rising to aim her ring before she realized what it was. "Chrono, good job," the woman in the image said.

"I'm sorry. I let the other one get away," Chrono told the image apologetically, though he cast sideways looks at Green Lantern. She just stared at him coolly behind her mask.

"Well, it couldn't be helped," the image said. "Oh, I'd like to hear their story, so I was wondering if you could bring these two to the Asura?"

"Understood. I will return momentarily," Chrono said.

"No," Green Lantern said, as firmly as her father when telling her that she couldn't know what an Image Club was. She felt Ferret Lantern's weight shift uncomfortably on her shoulder, but she pressed on. "Sorry, but I have no intention of going strange places with strange people–" _now_, her thoughts said, chagrined, "– most especially people who seem to have powerful magic. If you want to talk to me, then we do so here."

The two turned to her in surprise, and in the boy's case, a little anger. "Are you refusing to come with an official of the Time-Space Administration Bureau?" the boy said.

Nanoha resisted the urge to cross her arms stubbornly, keeping her hands free for ring and staff. "Neither Earth nor the Green Lantern Corps recognizes the legitimacy or authority of this Bureau. _I_, however, am a dully appointed law-enforcement official, whose area of responsibility you happen to be standing on."

The boy's mouth twisted, but the image, in a placating voice, said, "Ah, I apologize, officer. That was presumptuous of me. However, we _do_ need to speak about these… Jewel Seeds, and what must be done about them."

"And _I_ must contact my superiors and inform them of your presence," Green Lantern said. "There's paperwork that needs to be filled out."

Green Lantern watched closely as the woman winced at the latter words. "I understand. That will certainly take some time. There is no choice then. When can we arrange for a meeting?"

"Now," Green Lantern said, and the other two blinked in surprise.

"Now?" the image said, not yet having recovered.

Green Lantern nodded. "I'm sorry, but I had to test your sincerity. Anyone who shows the proper respect for the correct filing of official documentation–" inwardly, she giggled at knowing such big words! "– while still seeing them as a necessary evil–" which she really didn't understand, herself, but there it was, "– is most likely to be a person of integrity. I'm sorry, but I had to know. Since you seem to respect the fact that your presence must be reported and the paperwork filled out, I suppose I can extend enough trust to go with you. But!" she raised a finger. "If you try anything, I will respond in kind."

The woman in the image tilted her head. "That sounds reasonable. And thank you. Chrono, if you please?"

Green Lantern quickly sent a packet report to Oa in case she went missing as light congealed around her, and she arrived at another place…

...

"_**EH!**_" Green Lantern cried, her cool hauteur– at least, she'd like to think it was cool hauteur if she knew what hauteur was– breaking into teeny tiny tinkling pieces as Yu– er, Ferret Lantern– changed. "Y-y-, er, Ferret Lantern! You're a boy?-!-?-!-?-!"

"Uh, N-, er, Green Lantern, when we first met, I was in this form, wasn't I?" Ferret(?) Lantern said.

"No, no, you definitely were not! You were a ferret to being with! Ring-chan, was he like that when we met?"

"No, he was not," Ring-chan said.

"See, see! Ring-chan can't be wrong!"

"Hmm…" Ferret(?) Lantern said, tapping his head in thought, then paused. "Am I… still wearing a mask?"

Green Lantern nodded. "It's standard Corps procedure," she said.

Ferret(?) Lantern looked down and sighed. Well, at least he wasn't wearing the Corps' idea of a standard body suit.

Chrono looked on, already putting together a not very flattering list of observations on the people of Earth…

...

Nanoha listened carefully, her ring completely recording the helpfully expository words of Captain Harlaown. Even though the way she kept adding so much sugar made Nanoha twitch.

Outrageously sugary sip. "So, I'd like to inform you that the Time-Space Administration Bureau will be taking over the search for the Lost Logia, the Jewel Seeds, and it would be best if you two just forgot about what happened, returned to your separate worlds and continued to live your lives," Next to her, Chrono was nodding in agreement. The captain smiled brightly, "but somehow, I don't think that Officer Green Lantern will be agreeing to that."

Nanoha nodded. Chrono turned in protest. "Captain! This incident involves dimensional interference! It's not a simple matter that we could let civilians get involved with!"

"Well, isn't it convenient I'm a law enforcement officer and not a civilian," Green Lantern said. Despite herself, she tried to figure how the girl Fate would act in this instance. Nanoha had certainly been the target of her frustrating resolve and stubbornness to emulate it. Quickly, but concisely, she explained the concept of the Green Lantern Corps. She had to wait a while as the enormity of the areas involved hit them. From what she'd gathered, by implication at least, the places they patrolled were relatively close together, possibly easily fitting one sector. She saw the moment when they realized she was basically doing, all by herself, a job that comparatively needed their whole bureau.

She turned to Chrono, who seemed to be the biggest source of objection. "Let me put it simply. These Jewel Seeds are causing chaos in my area of responsibility. It is my job– no, my _duty_ to do something about them. If your intention is to see to it that these Lost Logia no longer pose a danger, than I am willing to cooperate with you to accomplish that. And if you truly represent some sort of dimensional police force, than I am sure my superiors will wish to speak with you regarding future cooperation and at worst, jurisdictional restrictions. "

The Captain gave a slight wince at that idea. Clearly, cross-dimensional bureaucratic haggling didn't appeal to her. Nanoha didn't see what her problem was. A little paperwork never hurt anybody.

Legions would wish to disagree with her.

Chrono frowned at her, but before he could say anything, the captain intervened. "It appears we both have much to consider. Why don't we think about it overnight and speak of it again in the morning?"

Nanoha nodded in agreement. "Agreed. Can you please drop us off where you found us? I still need to continue my patrol."

The captain blinked in surprise. "Your patrol?" she said.

Green Lantern smiled, a small smile compared to her usual expansive ones. On her, it was still technically big and bright. "No evil shall escape my sight," she said. "It's part of our Oath. I'm no good if I don't go around and look for trouble. Yu- uh, Ferret Lantern, come on. According to statistics, three giant monster attacks already need foiling."

The Harlaown's blinked. "Monster attacks?"

"Earth. It's a tough neighborhood," Yuuno said apologetically. "I recommend big guns, heavy spells and power suits."

...

"So… you're really a boy?" Green Lantern said as they stared out over the water while the ring repaired what little damage the Jewel Seed battle had caused. "You look about my age…"

Yuuno reddened slightly. "I'm sorry I never bought it up. I honestly thought you knew. I'm sorry."

Green Lantern patted him on the shoulder. "It's all right. Just don't do it again."

Yuuno couldn't help smiling. "All right. Next time I meet you after being attacked by a Jewel Seed dust bunny, I'll be sure to tell you I'm really a boy instead of a ferret."

"From the time-travel incidents logs I've been reading, that's not so far-fetched," Green Lantern said.

Yuuno blinked. "Seriously?"

Nanoha nodded. Yuuno whistled.

The two looked out over the water again.

"So… they're probably recording us, aren't they? I can't change back, or they'll know," Green Lantern said.

"Most likely. You'd be the best judge of police procedure," Yuuno said.

"Then they're watching," Green Lantern said thoughtfully. She looked up in the air. "Captain, you really should cut down on your sugar! It's bad for your teeth, and gives you diabetes! Think of poor Chrono-kun! What sort of example of dental hygiene are you setting!"

Yuuno laughed. Nanoha grinned at him. "So, what can we do?" she said.

Not so long ago, Yuuno would have been _very_ hesitant about even considering this. Now, after getting ferret-napped at least seven times for bait and at least twice as lunch, and getting out of those only by Nanoha's timely rescue, he didn't hesitate. "I think I can modify the Barrier I use into an anti-scrying effect," he said thoughtfully. "I'll have to run the calculations. I'd use Raging heart for that, but truthfully, the two of us never synchronized as well as you two did. It might take some time. An hour or two."

Nanoha tapped her cheek thoughtfully. "What if…" she said, "What if you relayed whatever it was you need to send Raging Heart through me? Would that work? The ring can do a sort of elementary telepathic link. That might work."

Yuuno stared at her. "You never told me you could do that!" he said.

"Technically, the ring can do anything," Nanoha said. "It's having the imagination to think of those things that's the hard part. Basic training tends to concentrate on simple, reliable constructs, will-power exercises, strategy, tactics, procedure, determination and endurance rather than experimentation. It tends to get glossed over."

Yuuno stared at some middle distance thoughtfully. "We can try," he said.

Green Lantern took his hand and concentrated.

A few seconds later, the monitoring station at the Asura was showing static.

"Hmm," Lindy said. "Impressive. And paranoid. Justified, but still paranoid."

"Mother," Chrono said solemnly. Lind turned to look at him. "She's right. You use too much sugar. It's not good for you."

Amy nodded. "He's right. I'm officially cutting you off, captain."

"Eh? Now wait just a minute, who's the captain around here?-!"

...

Despite what Nanoha had said, she didn't immediately go on patrol. Big Science Action and Super Young Team both had her number, and the magical girls she knew all knew how to contact her should they need any help. Mostly it was reconstruction and getting rid of the evidence. Sakura-chan was her biggest customer there, a fact that made the nice, well-spoken girl very apologetic. She was actually the one Nanoha was on best terms with, if only because she saw her in a non-combat situation the most. The Sailor Senshi usually contacted her when one of them was a bit too careless with there attacks, but also when they needed help with, say, a years-old monster by one of their old enemies.

It was disturbing how many of those had been left around. Apparently, sometimes they'd thrown the monsters around like seeds and allowed them to evolve. Depending on conditions, this meant it might take months or even years before the things woke up, meaning some days, long after the enemy had been befriended or destroyed, they were still dealing with Black Moon Circus Freaks, Dark Kingdom Youma, or any number of things. Still, they managed.

The less said about those Kaleido girls, the better. And Nanoha was still to traumatized by Evangeline to consider talking to her. Though she should probably continue her efforts to contact those flying maids and that cute girl on the flying stick…

So, it was with less than full professionalism that she'd gone to visit Sakura and her friend to ask them a favor.

...

A slightly dazed bodyguard knocked on the door to interrupt tea time. "Oujo-sama, I'm sorry to interrupt, but there's a magical girl here to see you."

Tomoyo blinked over her teacup, then looked around. "But Sakura-chan's right here, Ino-san."

Sakura gave a sigh. It went "Hoeeeee…"

Ino resisted the urge to sigh as well. The rich sure could be weird. Wait, no, you didn't call them weird, you called then eccentric. "Different magical girl, Oujo-sama. Green Lantern-sama and a masked boy say they wish to speak to you."

The girls at the tea party exchanged looks. "Well, I better see to this. I'm sorry for the interruption."

"Not at all," Tsukimura Suzuka said, putting down her cup. "I'm actually quite curious to see Green Lantern-sama. We see her flying over Uminari often, but she always seems to be in a hurry."

"She came to my school once," Yukihiro Ayaka confided. "Or so I heard. Something about potential super-villains in the university science labs."

The other girls nodded sagely (well, except for Sakura). They'd _heard_ of those things.

"Please send her in, Ino-san," Tomoyo said, taking a delicate sip of her tea. "I will meet with her and her companion here."

"Were there?" Luviagelita Edelfelt asked, continuing the line of conversation. Behind her, her maid Miyu stood stiffly at attention, despite Tomoyo's repeated attempts to get the young girl to relax and join them.

"None that I heard of," Ayaka said, taking a cookie. "Still, it's quite possible my classmate Chao left _just_ in time. Not that I'm saying she'd have anything to do with such things. Quite the opposite! Why, before she left, she helped make our school festival end in quite a high note, purely as something for us to remember her by!"

A few moment's later, Green Lantern strode into the parlor holding a masked boy who looked to be about her age by one arm and paused. She seemed to blink a couple of times behind her own mask. "Ah, I'm sorry Daidouji-san, I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"Just the regular meeting of the little ladies who lunch," Tomoyo said. "Well, take tea, anyway. How may I assist you, Green Lantern-sama?"

Green Lantern was silent for a moment, seemingly staring at the other girls present. Miyu, the poor embarrassed girl, was blushing and seemed to be trying to hide by holding a tray in front of her face.

Finally, Green Lantern seemed to come to herself. "Sorry," she said. "It's been a long day. Daidouji-san, I was wondering if you would do me a favor."

"Oh?" Tomoyo said, interested. The other girls, equally intrigued, leaned forward slightly.

Green Lantern nodded, then patted the boy on the shoulder. "You remember my Deputy, Ferret Lantern, don't you?"

The boy sighed as the other girls turned to stare at him. "N– Green Lantern, we _really_ need to think of a better name."

"Eh? But Ferret Lantern's so _cute_."

"It's hardly appropriate! What sort of superhero goes around named after an animal?"

"Batman?"

"That's different! Bats have mystique! Name one superhero named after an animal that wasn't intimidating!"

"Robin?"

The boy wilted. "I give up…"

Green Lantern smiled brightly, patting the boy again as the other girls watched on, amused. Even Miyu looked behind her tray. "To continue, Daidouji-san, I wish to make a request of you. I want to ask you to design a new uniform for my deputy here."

Tomoyo blinked. It was a small gesture, but it did not do justice to the titanic clash of opposing ideas in her head. On the one hand, she only made clothes for her precious people, such as, say, for the sake of an example, _**SAKURA-CHAN!-!-!-!-!-!**_ It was her way of showing she cared. She wasn't as crass as to do it with money, but with tender loving care, effort, blood sweat and tears. It was a private, personal thing for her to make clothes for someone. Taking a long, pointed needle and sticking it into the soft, delicate folds, drawing it in and out again and again…

_Error code 34, rule. Reset._

On the other hand, she was also an artist. Everything she did, she did as an art form. Singing, drawing, cooking, sewing, martial arts (she made a mental note to spar with Ayaka-chan again one of these days, to see how much they'd both improved. She'd been working on her Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū), sharp-shooting (that half-Puerto Rican mercenary mother had hired to teach her had said she was one of the most promising she'd ever seen. Mr. Wilson, the one in the eye-patch, had half-jokingly asked if she'd be willing to be his apprentice), interpretive dance, track and field, video-editing, erotic yoga, tantric Sakura-stalking… it was all art to her, a means of creating beauty. And life most artists in it for the art and not the money, she enjoyed her talents and works being appreciated.

These two concepts warred within her at the seemingly simple request. On the one hand, clothes were for, say, for the sake of an example, her _**SAKURA-CHAN!-!-!-!-!-!**_ On the other hand, a superhero, a magical girl (who clearly wasn't as magical or as girly has her Sakura-chan, but no one but Sakura-chan was perfect, after all) was asking her to design a uniform for her. Technically her deputy, but still!

"Oh, Tomoyo-chan, this is wonderful! Finally, an opportunity for you to show the world how good you are! Pleasesay you'll do it?" Sakura said.

After that, there was no contest

Tomoy suddenly stood, her teacup perfectly level in her hands as she pointed in a dramatic fashion. It was at the corner of the ceiling, but it was suitably dramatic. "Ino-san!" she said. "Fetch my sewing kit!"

The girls all cheered. Ferret Lantern's head drooped.

"I'm in trouble…" he muttered, surrendering to the inevitable. He knew better than to argue. Earth girls, magical or not, were crazy!

...

Green Lantern found herself having tea and cookies with one of her best friends– who she hoped to the Guardians didn't realize it was her– some older girls, a fellow magical girl, with another magical girl acting as a maid, while Tomoyo measured Yuuno out so she could design a new costume for him. Nanoha had told her she only needed the design for her ring to make, but Tomoyo had been adamant about actually creating the thing, and Nanoha had agreed. After all, _she_ was the one asking the favor.

She wondered if Superman ever found this secret identity thing to be normal.

She made small-talk, such as she could. It was kind of embarrassing to hear Suzuka gush at her _about_ her. The Ayaka girl seemed intent to make sure Nanoha had no intention of arresting her classmate Chao, and Luvia seemed satisfied with drinking her tea and making cryptic comments, while Kaleido Sapphire– Miyu, rather, she wasn't sure if she _was_ called Kaleido Sapphire, or if that was her wand's name– looking embarrassed. Sakura was wisely staying out of the way.

Tomoyo promised to deliver the finished uniform in a couple of days, and had also agreed to make a selection of designs for Nanoha to ring into existence herself, at Sakura's urging after Yuuno's embarrassed looks. Tomoyo had sketched off some preliminary designs for the deputy to wear. They'd been surprisingly plain and simple, if no less elegant than Tomoyo's other designs. They were certainly no Da Vinci-designed Swiss Guard uniform. They were better.

They gone their separate ways, and Tomoyo thought no more on it, except to deliver her creation when it was finished.

A few days after that, however, Super Young Team sent her a request asking her to redesign their uniforms…

...

Oa, Nanoha was surprised to learn, had a file on the TSAB.

It would have been good to know when she'd met Yuuno. They really needed some sort of analysis department on Oa was her thought. Though the rings could access all information they had, sometimes Lanterns didn't know what questions to ask.

It was outdated, and spoke of Belkans and some sort of semi-religious sect, but at least it meant the Guardians know of the group's existence, or at least where they came from. She'd been ordered o assist them as so far as it did not interfere with her duties, and to establish the basis of a working relationship with them for the future. It seemed simple enough.

Only Nanoha could _possibly_ think it was that easy.

...

Jewel Seeds were collected. Giant monsters were fought. Crimes were foiled. There was a close encounter of the tentacle monster kind that had the Senshi screaming in fear and Sailor Uranus over reacting. Nanoha resolved that whatever was going on between Miyu, Illya and Kuro illya, she'd stay out of it until they actually caused trouble for someone else. It was too confusing. Superman was able to earn people's trust back after the Darkseid thing. Nanoha, despite much pleading with the Guardians, was still not allowed to go to Apokolips and hit him for being _**A VERY BAD MAN!**_

Then Arf was found…

When they located the Garden of Time, it took Green Lantern's ring precisely 2.2846761859 seconds to completely dismantle the thing from around Precia's ears. Chrono nearly had an aneurysm, a heart attack, and a seizure, all at the same time.

"Precia Testarossa, you are under arrest for multiple counts of child abuse, negligence, and being a BAD MOTHER!" Green Lantern cried. "Oh, and the TSAB, the JSDF and Oa want to talk to you about reckless use of Lost Logia, destruction of public property and illegal research or something. And we'll probably give you medical attention somewhere along the way, because we're nice. But we'll be surly about it!"

...

**- To be continued...**

...

A/N: the tree monster from 1st season episode 7 was the most disturbingly Freudian thing I'd seen on the series to date. Anything else before that was passable: _that_ thing was squicky!

Something to remember: Green Lanterns are essentially _cops_. They have maximum authority in their jurisdiction. Nanoha knows this. The meeting with Chrono is a bit more confrontational than I wished, but GL!Nanoha, unlike Canon!Nanoha, has responsibilities, and is highly conscientious about those responsibilities. See her paperwork?

Though Canon!Nanoha should really know better than to let herself be kidnapped by strange people claiming to be police. Sure, Yuuno might have known about the TSAB and told her it was OK, but he should have asked for some ID first…

Really, you can just see Nanoha freaking out every time Lindy adds sugar to something…

I'm addicted to ellipses. Help me…

In case you missed it, I'll spell it out: Tomoyo. Is. DANGEROUS! Thou shall not Sakura-steal. The hypotenuse will experience death.

On that note, Syaoran just became so much more badass.

Yuuno is wearing Kyle's Post-Ion outfit. Yes, with all the belts and dog collars. Though the mask he's wearing is the crab mask.

Chrono. Carrying around a can of hair spray and a brush. Amy's always had him whipped…

The fight where Starlight Breaker is first used. Say it with me: "Whoever losses has to Put Out…"

...

**Epilogue**

...

In the end, the rather insane Precia was to be handed to the TSAB. Oa, however, was insistent that she be tried by them first, on behalf of Terran law– which was more than amendable to foisting off the insane mage to someone else– and so that she could be healed of her physical ailments well enough for her to serve out what was sure to be a very long sentence.

Lindy, as a mother, was more than willing to see her cured so she could rot in jail for the rest of her life.

And on Earth, Green Lantern and Ferret Lantern– "Nanoha, a new name! Seriously!"– did their duty, and waited for their friends to come back to them.

...

**End First Season**

...

Please review. If you don't… _**THEN I'LL JUST HAVE TO CUT ALL THESE PEOPLE UP!-!-!-!-!-! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA**_

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.

The Blackest Night falls from the skies,

The Darkness falls as all life dies…


	7. The Linker Cores War, Part 1

A/N: Here we are, the _real_ chapter 7. Trying to make this more story-oriented than gag oriented. Not sure what I'll do to StrikerS. Fortunately, that's still many years in Nanoha's future, so she has time to have Uminari destroyed right out from under her by aliens and go insane and die and become the Specter and come back from the dead and everything …

...

Takamachi Nanoha of 2814

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 7: The Linker Cores War, Part 1: Lolis Keep Falling On My Head…

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story.

...

This is the world. It's round and three dimensional and is definitely not a disk, nor carried on the backs of four elephants. While such worlds are fun, and involve interesting people and manipulative bastards and powerful beings and funny little parodies of the world we live in, ultimately… Batman would do horrible, non-lethal things to us if we messed with his world like that, and we like the anatomy we have now.

This is a story about… well, we're not exactly sure. It's definitely not about fan service, though it has plenty of that. It's not about lolis, though there's plenty of _that_ too. The friendship kinda gets pushed to the bottom somehow, but that's there as well. We'd like to say it's not about crack, but we'd be lying. There's plenty of crack. The only thing we can promise on that score is that it wasn't made _on_ crack. we've had to read the kind of writing to many times to want t omake it ourselves.

Ultimately, this is a story about a girl, who just happens to be a superweapon, with a superweapon. And that books are really, _really_ dangerous things…

...

Superheroes can get busted a lot of ways. They might have been sloppy about returning home and been trailed by people intent on their identity. They could be sloppy cleaning up after themselves, leaving behind clues such as blood and DNA that ultimately lead to a conclusive match. They might be getting changed into their 'work clothes' when suddenly someone walks in, putting them in quite an incriminating position. A suspicious friend or family member might search their room and find paraphernalia belonging to their alter ego. They might be forced to reveal it due to a wardrobe malfunction, or some machination of another party.

Nanoha was busted when she came down to breakfast the day after her first experimental test run of her new Starlight Breaker Plus, with added Barrier Breaker Ability. She'd flopped onto the table and blearily eaten breakfast, helping her mother dry the dishes before slouching upstairs and getting her bag for school. She stepped outside, swaying slightly as she headed for the bus stop, stepped off the street without looking, and was promptly hit by a car.

It was about that moment that she realized two things.

One, it was Saturday, so there was no school on.

Two, she was wearing her Green Lantern uniform.

The second revelation washed over her like a cold shower of liquid nitro, and she frantically scrambled to her feet, shouting a hasty apology and repairing any damage her protective aura might have caused the car before she dashed back home via a circuitous route, to find that, unlike he, her family had been wide awake.

That had been a _very_ awkward conversation.

Fortunately, this happened to some _other_ Nanoha who happened to be a Green Lantern and not to our protagonist. Had you going there, didn't I?

...

_Our_ Nanoha was currently speeding back to Earth in a blaze of green light, having just finished her rounds of some of the planets of her Sector. As much as trouble gravitated to Earth like shotacon schoolgirls to a welsh ten-year old, she _did_ have duties to other planets and worlds. She'd stayed long enough to show the flag, handle some problems, help with some areas that they could do themselves but were speeded up considerably with her help, and moved on. She did this on weekends, passing through a couple of systems while people at home thought she was doing something or other by herself.

Now she was heading back home. As she passed by Mars, she reflected on the incident Raging Heart had detected, all those months ago after Fate left with the TSAB. To think there'd been a whole _world_ magically hidden and out of phase on the planet's surface, so subtle neither her ring nor the _Asura_'s sensors had detected it until there had been that enormous burst of magical energy.

Well, there wasn't much for her to do there, though she was thankful she'd finally been put in contact with those winged girls from months back. She'd been surprised to learn they were part of a group, this 'Ala Alba', with the delicate-faced magical girl who'd shot lightning those months ago being their apparent leader. Yuuno had been quite eager to meet them, and had spent many hours while Nanoha was patrolling talking to some of them, who were apparently librarians by profession.

She thought of her friend with eagerness and anticipation. The decision from Oa had finally pushed through, and they'd actually been willing to ratify her choice. It was highly unusual, but given the Earth's rather unfortunate position as 'Sector 2814's Black Hole of Weirdness and Evil', a designation she very carefully did _not_ shared with all the other heroes working so hard to make it better, they'd had sufficient motivation to approve it. Plus she knew there were some reservations about her age, still. Perhaps to their minds, the ages, when added up, was suitably high enough.

The item the Guardians had sent her seemed to burn a hole in her pocket. The other thing was safely in her personal storage space, a Confined Pocket Dimension about a foot less than arms-length from her right hand, next to her own Power Battery, but _this_ she kept on her person, wanting it there, ready and waiting, so she could personally award it. The look on their face… the thought made her want to giggle as she passed by the moon.

That was her signal to slow down to merely high ultrasonic– not that the speed of sound really meant anything here where it didn't travel– flying through cloud of satellites and orbital debris–she _really_ needed to clean up here. Someone could get hurt– and doing a couple of loops around the International Space Station being constructed, Kaznian markings already adorning one finished module. One of the astronauts putting together something looked up and caught sight of her, letting go of the component he was holding in shock. Nanoha waved cheerily at him and helpfully stuck the piece where her ring deduced it was supposed to go, then swung past to the Hubble Space Telescope, where she spent a really immature few moments making faces at it. It was always funny to see which ones were posted online.

Giggling to herself, she changed her angle to fly her high past Metropolis, making a coded series of sonic booms and waving in the city's general direction to Superman before arcing back for Uminari.

Ah, routine boredom. No really big crisis, no big, harrowing disasters, no incoming giant monsters from space. Bliss…

...

Takamachi Nanoha was having a perfectly average day. Get up ridiculously early, as ridiculously quickly get dressed, train with Raging Heart for about an hour or so, do a quick sweep of the area as Green Lantern (morning's catch: a drunk about to fall off a bridge, a rather inept burglar and a couple of children throwing stones at someone's house), get dressed for school, admire how saccharinely close her family was (utterly failing to notice her sister Miyuki was coming out of her brother's room), meet her friends at the bus, go to school, drop off Suzuka at the library, appear to head home but actually go on her more complete patrol (afternoon catch: a team of industrial spies trying to break into Wayne Enterprises, some rather stupid Ayakashi, a rather apologetic notification from Sailor Mercury about a park they'd totaled dealing with an old Witches 5 creation that had woken up, reports of a giant monster off the coast that she'd ben able to lure away into deeper water…), a quick spot of tea with Tomoyo, hearing about Sakura's adventures now that shewas actually Mistress of the Cards rather than just the Card Captor, head back home to have dinner with her family and do her homework, and _not _hear mysterious voices calling her name…

Ah, happ–

"Caution, Emergency," Raging Heart said.

"Warning! Dimensional distortion detected!" Ring-chan announced.

About a second later, Nanoha felt something wash over her, a familiar feeling that had her rising out of her chair. "A barrier?-!" she exclaimed.

"The dimensional distortion is immense," Ring-chan continued. "Detectable manifestation indicates that the phenomenon has enclosed 97 percent of Uminari city. Intense caution is advised." A pause. "Might I suggest utilizing the Starlight Breaker construct in a massive-area leveling barrage?"

Nanoha glared down disapproving at her left middle finger, where the ring was resting.

"It was just a suggestion."

"Caution," Raging Heart interjected. "Magical entity detected incoming from the east."

Nanoha turned to look out the window next to her bed, crawling onto the mattress for a better look.

"It approaches at high speed," Raging Heart added helpfully.

"Detected air displacement and radar reactions clock the speed of the entity to be well within known non-Kryptonian humanoid unassisted flight speeds," Ring-chan said, as if determined to have the last word. "Recommend we vacate current location to maintain security of identity and confront entity at a tactically superior position."

Nanoha nodded in agreement. She concentrated, sending her will coursing into the ring, visualizing the effect she wanted. The ring didn't shudder, but it _felt_ like it should, an emerald light appearing around her as she walked through the wall of her room and outside into empty air. "Raging Heart, _onegai_," she said. Pink light flashed as her barrier jacket formed itself around her, and she let the energy aura around her dissipate as Flier Fins appeared at her feet, sending her surging to the city, Raging Heart held in her off-hand. She used magic for this, knowing that it was less visible than her ring's protective field. Besides, she needed to exercise her magic muscles more. Surely this wasn't anything she and Raging Heat couldn't handle. She'd defeated Fate-chan, hadn't she? Well, alright, she'd used her ring for that too, but she'd grown stronger in her magic now. She'd make it…

...

"I don't remember doing anything to anyone that looked like you recently," Nanoha cried as she dodged the third attack of the red-clothed girl, face slightly annoyed behind her green mask, her barrier jacket glowing with Corps Green lines and accents, the only signs of her nearly dark ring. "Stop this now! This is your only warning!"

The girl readied to attack again, frowning face intent and determined, but before she could launch, the Divine Shooters Nanoha had launched under the cover of the smoke of the last attack arched behind the girl. The girl whirled in surprise, managing to dodge one and block the other, but it detonated in her face. The barrier kept it from really hurting her, but the girls face contorted in anger, and with a cry she launched herself at Nanoha.

Nanoha Flash Moved out of the way, Raging Heart converting to Shooting Mode as a Divine Buster began to charge. "You have been warned!" Nanoha cried. "Surrender!"

The spell was meant as a warning shot, barely really grazing the girl. Nevertheless, the supercharged air sent her tumbling, and Nanoha watched as her fat flapped off, dissolving into tatters.

Murderous blue eyes turned to Nanoha and she suddenly felt the urge to step back as words practically screamed themselves at her: DON'T! MESS! WITH! MY! HAT!-!-! "Graf Eisen, Cartridge Load!"

"Explosion," the weapon intoned. "Raketenform."

"Raketen…" the girl called as a thrusting blame exploded from one end of the suddenly reconfigured weapon. She charged at Nanoha, bulding up speed, and Nanoha dodged, bringing up a circular shield of her own. It last only a few moments. "HAMMER!"

The shield shattered, and the point of the hammer slammed into Raging Heart. There was an unholy shock through Nanoha's arms as the force came thought, her ring aura, dark until then, flaring to life as it tried to catch the punishing impact.

The attack sent her flying into a building. Nanoha's cry of pain and surprise wa cut off as dust entered her lungs, and she suddenly found herself dissolving into a coughing fit as she struggled to get to her feet. The sound of a cry and a glimpse were the only warnings she had as the red-clad girl charged again. Instinct came to her, and she raised Raging Heart, activating it' protective field to defend herself.

It was the wrong instinct to follow.

The pink light of her magic blinded her as she tried to use it to resist, and strain sending strange resistance through parts of her she didn't know could feel that way. She was unprepared when the hammer her enemy wield suddenly increased its power.

A heartbeat…

Two…

Three…

And suddenly the pink shield in front of her broke like sugar-glass, the hammer's point streaking towards her breast. Again her ring aura-flared, but without her will to guide and shape it, its light was painfully insufficient for protection. The point struck the front of her barrier jacket, crushing the Corps symbol that hung on her bow into dust that dissolved into green light, before finally striking the barrier jacket itself.

It, too, shattered, breaking apart into a million motes of pink. Yet it managed to save her life, managing to absorb the energy of the strike into its destruction and distributing the rest through the entirety of her barrier jacket, so that instead of striking all one point and collapsing her chest then and there, it dissipated the impact.

Along the barrier jacket that as _under_ her energy aura.

She was thrown back violently, crashing into some wooden furniture, the impact of _that_ at least caught by her energy field and reduced to merely leaping enthusiastically on the couch instead of the paralyzing accident it should have been. Her head rung, the world spinning around her in pain and sudden nausea and disorientation. Shakily, her vision blurring, skull throbbing, she tried to raise Raging Heart, an instinctive gesture of a primate with a stick. A red light was pulsing in her vision, and she saw the hammer rising.

_It's not fair…_ she thought fuzzily, all thoughts of willpower far away, _I was supposed to have four more years…_

There was a crash. A moment later, Nanoha realized she was still alive.

She opened her eyes– when had she closed them?– and saw a billowing black blur, outlined against the opening in the building's wall, long golden locks streaming in the wind.

A hand suddenly came to rest on her shoulder, and she twitched in an attempt a jumping away, her head lolling to the side and brining her eyes to face the hand's owner. "Sorry we're late, Green Lantern," a voice she had been eager to hear coming to her ears. "Traffic was horrible."

"Ferret Lantern…" she said, dazed and feeling like she was dreaming. He looked very heroic in his barrier jacket. How had she never noticed that before?

She could hear the red-clad girl struggling with someone. "Allies, huh?" a semi-recognizable voice said, and there was the sound of someone leaping away.

"Scythe form," a masculine voice intoned, and Nanoha forced herself to open her eyes, to focus them properly.

Fate stood in front of her, Bardiche's glowing energy blade before her, standing like Death's granddaughter herself, implacable and the stuff of nightmares. "We're her _friends_," the other girl said.

After so long, it was wonderful to hear that voice in the flesh again.

"Magically attacking a law enforcement officer," Fate said in a voice like a crank lowering a coffin to the waiting earth. "This crime can't be considered a mere misdemeanor."

"Who the hell are you supposed to be?-!" the semi-recognizable voice said, and Nanoha realized it belonged to the red-clad girl. "Some mage from the Administration Bureau?"

"I am this girl's friend," Fate said softly, the way a blade on a velvet sheath is soft. "I am one who owes her my life, and my soul, and my freedom. TSAB temporary mage, Fate Testarossa. And by my authority, you are under arrest for assault, destruction of private property, vandalism, disturbance of the peace, and being a bloody nuisance. If you do not resist, you will be granted the chance to plead in you own defense." Fate's form shifted, becoming more belligerent. "Please resist."

The red-clad girl sneered, and leapt out the way they had come. Fate chased after her.

Quiet came rushing back. "Yuuno, what…?"

The boy-mage one her shoulder again, squeezing reassuringly. "Let me explain," he said, and began to tell her the story as he healed her.

Meanwhile, on her finger, Ring-chan struggled.

...

When Yuuno finished, Nanoha was… well, still very dizzy, nauseous, seeing double and unsteady. In other words, she was in absolutely no condition to drive heavy machinery, much less a superweapon.

Still, she'd insisted Yuuno take them somewhere they could keep an eye on fate, and he'd reluctantly flown her to the top of the building. They watched the battle, confidence breaking as the new combatants joined in to outnumber their friend.

"This is bad. I have to save them," Yuuno said.

"Yuuno, wait!" Nanoha called out.

He paused, turning to look at her.

Nanoha reached into her pocket. She'd wanted this moment to be a happy occasion, something to remember fondly. She'd wanted to be able to take a picture of the look of surprise on his face. She'd been planning to bake a cake. It looked like that wasn't going to happen, now. Still, there was still something she could do to make this moment special, something to give it meaning.

"Yuuno Scrya of Mid-Childa," she whispered, her voice barely audible above the sounds of fighting in the otherwise silent city as she struggled to remember the formula of words that had changed her life so many months ago. "You have the ability to overcome great fear." She reached for Yuuno's hand weakly, and placed her closed fist on it. She opened her hand, drew it back. A green ring lay on his palm. "By the authority of the Guardians of the Universe, you have been chosen as the second Green Lantern of Space Sector 2814. Do you accept?"

Yuuno looked like she'd hit him between the eyes, then between the legs for good measure. "Nanoha…"

"Do you accept?" she said urgently.

His face softened. "Of course I do."

Nanoha sighed. "I welcome you to the Green Lantern Corp, Yuuno-kun."

"_Willpower recognized. Ring online. Orders accepted._"

The ring floated from his hand, settling on her finger. Green light flared as his uniform shaped itself over his barrier jacket.

Yuuno looked at his arm. "This is Tomoyo-san's design, isn't it, the uniform?"

Nanoha essayed a sickly grin. He sighed.

Yuuno made a healing barrier with a few deft words, then looked at the ring on his finger. He looked a Nanoha. "I'll make you proud," he said.

"Do the duty," she said. "Arrest them."

Yuuno grinned and took to the sky

...

Yuuno found Fate. He knew the basics of using a ring. Nanoha had let him use her's a few times, carefully as she watched, and he'd been able to make shapes and do scans and things. His magical training had stood him in good stead those few times, allowing him the focus the weapon seemed to need.

Now he used it to scan for Fate in the rubble of the building as he tried to remember what else Nanoha had taught him about the ring. He hadn't expected it to be like this. When Nanoha had suggested he become a Corps member and help her protect Earth, he'd thought she was half-joking, even when, while organizing her paperwork, he'd run across the report she'd sent to the Guardians about it. And now it was actually here.

He wondered if this was what performance anxiety was like.

Angrily, he shoved these thoughts away as he helped Fate up. This was really no different from what he had once would have asked of Nanoha, all those months ago. He would be damned if he did not meet this challenge with even _HALF_ the courage and determination he knew she would have.

Fate looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Ferret Lantern, I presume," she said, one side of her lip twitching.

He glared at her. "Quiet you. Once this is done, I am going to give _SERIOUS_ consideration to a new name. For now, letss make those three pay for Nanoha, buy time for Arf and the _Asura_ to decode the barrier. I'll take the girl and the familiar."

Fate nodded, "Agreed," she said, and held up Bardiche.

"Recovery," it said.

Together, the two shot back into the sky, Yuuno glowing green as he focused his will. He resisted the urge grin. As a mage, he'd never been much good with attack spells. But as a Lantern…

Blasts of green light streaked through the air as Yuuno attacked the red-clad girl and the familiar while Fate resumed her battle with the swordswoman…

...

"No," Nanoha breathed, staring at the battle above. As bravely as her friends fought, they were barely holding their attackers off, Yuuno too new to the Ring and to being the attacker to fight effectively at two to one odds. Tears were beginning to force their way out of her eyes. "I have to do something…"

"Ma'm," Ring-chan suddenly said. "A way exists. I have been able to calculate the optimum course of action to resolve this situation in our favor. But to do so, the dimensional distortion effect must be removed. I believe I am capable of accomplishing this within my parameters, but to do so I require your active Willpower to neutralize the dimensional distortion effect."

Nanoha grit her teeth, tried to concentrate, and her head exploded in pain. She nearly fell to her knees. "No," she panted. "I can't… Ring, initiate cellular reconstruction and regeneration!"

"Without active Willpower, effect will not progress to any significant amount within the immediate timeframe," Ring-chan said.

"Master," Raging Heart suddenly said.

Nanoha turned to look at it. It had obviously seen better days, and if she hadn't known better, she'd have said they'd been near the dawn of time. She'd never _thought_ Raging Heart could be damaged so badly.

"Shooting mode. Acceleration." Raging Heart changed shape, pink wings of energy flaring to either side. "Let's shoot it. Starlight Breaker." The words, despite their completely deadpan and even delivery, somehow managed to convey an evil grin.

"No… it's impossible for us to do that in our condition!"

"I can be shot."

"It will destroy you, Raging Heart!"

"I believe, Master."

Nanoha stared at her Intelligent Device, torn, her emotions whirling like a _really_ good special effect in a pirate movie.

"Trust me, my master."

Nanoha stood on the knife edge of decision, her choice teetering on the brink.

"Nanoha…" Ring-chan suddenly said, startling her. "Let Raging Heart do this. If she assesses that it can be done, than it can be done."

Nanoha stared at her finger, then gave a sharp, decisive nod.

The ring gave the same impression. Then it said, "Raging Heart, if you are incorrect in your assessment, know that I intend to reconstitute you so that I may utterly destroy you myself."

A beat. Then there, too, was the sense of a nod. "Those terms are acceptable. So be it."

Nanoha allowed herself to smile. "Then… I will trust you both."

She raised Raging Heart as magic circles began to form.

"I will prepare our counterattack," Ring-chan said.

Nanoha concentrated on telepathic communication. Even that was almost beyond her, but she powered through her suddenly pulsing migraine. _Fate-chan, Yuuno-kun, Arf-san…_

_Lantern Scrya,_ Ring-chan transmitted on a different wavelength, with different means. _Be ready to reconstruct the barrier on my mark…_

The countdown began. Raging Heart became stuck at III. Just as Nanoha was about to be concerned, a small jet of light suddenly erupted from her ring, striking the side of the Intelligent Device.

"Ahem. III. II. I…"

And a hand suddenly erupted from Nanoha's chest…

She thought the pain of trying to use her ring just now had been unbearable. This hand, cupping a shining light as it stuck out from her chest, put things in perspective. She stumbled back, once, twice, feeling vile, violated, like that time she'd accidentally drunk expired milk. Something seemed to be draining from her…

"Count 0."

Another jet of light erupted from her ring, and snaked at the intruding hand. It pierced like a knife, hard as a steel blade, drawing blood, and from another building, there was a cry of pain as the hand convulsed.

"S-starlight…" she gasped, swinging Raging Heart back and forth with all her might. "_**BREAKER!-!-!-!-!-!**_"

A pink light connected heaven and earth as the spell rose into the sky. The barrier broke. It was glorious.

Dragon Slave, eat your heart out…

...

Nanoha collapsed, spent.

Raging Heart lay on the ground, immobile.

And Ring-chan began it's counter attack.

...

All over Japan, and the world over, people had been having an average day. Get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, go through their daily routine, head home…

And now, hear mysterious voice calling their name…

_Attention, this is an automated message. Green Lantern is under attack, condition severe. Assistance is required. Response?_

And as one, many said:

"_Yes!_"

...

The barrier fell apart. In the first few moments, several balls of light streaked into the night. They returned after heartbeats, screaming at many times the speed of sound as they dropped back to the rooftops of Uminari with their precious cargo.

Before the three strange attacker could react, Yuuno had reestablished a barrier.

"The hell…?" the red-clad one said.

Before one of her could respond, there was a cry that instantly drew attention. Several, actually.

"_JOVIS TEMPESTAS FULGURIENS!_"

"_MAXIMAL SCHNIEBEN!_"

"_EX-CAIBA!_"

"_DEEP SUBMERGE!_"

"_WORLD SHAKING!_"

"_Dead… Scream…_"

"_HOEEEEEEEE!-!-!-!-!_"

All except the last was instantly accompanied by power and searing pain. There was impact. When the three Wolkenritter were able to look around them, they could see around them again, they found themselves surrounded.

"_What did you DO to Green Lantern!_" Superman practically snarled, eyes crimson with heat and rage.

The three stood quickly, back to back, weapons raised. They eyed the forces around them.

Eight Sailor Senshi, as angry as they ever got– and with Uranus, and Jupiter, that was a lot. Behind them, Mercury tended the unconscious Green Lantern, who'd managed to keep her mask.

Kaleido's Ruby and Sapphire flanked two girls inexpertly masked with handkerchiefs.

A delicate-faced young form, long hair twisting behind them like a serpent, crackling with energy, face hard and flanked by various girl ins various stages of angry, outraged and armed.

A soft-eyed, determined child, her star-tipped pink wand shaking slightly, her mask elegant and slightly fetishistic. Determination radiated from her in waves.

And above this floated a specter in blue with crimson wings and eyes of fire.

Fate, Arf and Yuuno, taking their places in the circle. Bardiche glowed, scythe ready to rend, it's wielder more so. Yuuno raised his unfamiliar ring in a manner he'd seen Nanoha do so often.

"Surrender!" he cried. "You're outnumber at least six to one. Maybe seven to one.

"12 to one," Superman supplied.

"Give up now, and we might forgive you for what you did to Green Lantern!" Yuuno cried.

Strangely, the three didn't seem intimidated. In fact, they looked… eager? Hungry? Starvations victims who suddenly found themselves in Heaven's buffet?

It was the red-clad girl who spoke, eyes looking wide, teeth barred in the kind of grin that eats boats. "_Linker Cores…_"

...

**- To be continued...**

...

A/N: in the DCAU, the GL Oath _is_ a statement of principle. After all, it's standardized. Comic cannon seems to be going that way as well, as of the most recent Corps reconstruction and retcon. Oh, and Alicia's dead and buried.

Nanoha's not as strong, magically speaking, since she has less time to train and has her Power Ring to use.

Trying to stagger things as much as possible on the Negima-side of things, so that I don't say anything that counter's the manga.

...

**ATE: Possible Futures**

...

The Guardians looked at each other. There was a tension in the air, of silent communion and deliberation.

"Very well, Lantern 2814.1, 2814.2," one of the Guardians– Ganthet, Yuuno recalled his name was– said, speaking for the rest. "We have decided that, for the moment, this Red Lantern will be relegated to your care. If she proves herself in control of her rage, than perhaps in the future…"

Nanoha grinned widely as Yuuno and several other people in the crowd who had been prepared to do violence allowed the tension to be drawn away into cheers. The once-deputy had to give the Guardians their due: they knew how to follow a running gag.

The red and black-clad figure drew themselves up proudly, the crimson ring pulsing on their finger. "Thank you, Guardians. On my Oath– my _new_ Oath– I promise to be worthy. This I swear."

"Then speak this Oath, and let it be done."

The figure, the delicate-looking features serious but with a hint of childishness, raised the crimson battery from the table that had been provided for it and raised their ring to the front. They spoke, anger and grief breaking through suddenly clenched teeth as crimson light flared.

"_With blood and Rage of crimson red, _

_Ripped from a corpse so freshly dead._

_Together with my Hellish hate,_

_I swear none other shall share my fate!_

_Magister Magi, Agent Crimson, ADEAT!_"

The Hall of the Guardians roared with angry, crimson power as the ring was charged.

"We welcome you to the service, Agent Crimson, Last of the Blood of Ostia and Vespertatia," a Guardian said. "See to it that our faith in our Green Lantern's judgment is well founded."

...

"Setsuna-sempai," Tsukuyomi said, dead eyes as bright as they ever were in life. "Now, you're _**mine**_!"

Konoka screamed as Tsukuyomi, the Black Hand of Nekron, ripped Setsuna's heart from her chest, savoring the pouring life's blood as the hanyou's body suddenly fell, limp. The Regina Medicans kicked and screamed, but the hands of the dead were implacable and unyielding as the Black Hand daintily plucked a Black ring from the swirling cloud around her. She knelt by the newly-made corpse, taking it's left hand in hers almost delicately. "And with this ring," she said, giggling, "I name us wed in the name of Nekron!"

"**SAKURAZAKI SETSUNA OF EARTH: **_**RISE**_**!**"

Konoka's screams of anguish wove into Tsukuyomi's delighted laughter as the fallen angel rose once more…

...

"Chao…" Negi said, eyes wide and horrified at the grinning girl.

"Chibi-Usa," Eternal Sailor Moon said, eyes equally haunted at the choice before them.

The two exchanged looks, and Chao moderated her expression, smiling sadly at the horrified heroes, magi and magical girls before them. "It has to be done. The Time Trapper must be stopped before he destroys all Time. You, all of you, need to live for there to be any sort of future."

"But…! The time-stream!" Eternal Sailor Moon protested.

Chibi-Usa shook her head. "You don't understand mother. Puu knows. You are our past, yes, but we– the Legion, the Team Titans, Riot Force 6000, the new Senshi, Ala Nigra– we need not be your future. How could we, when Crystal Tokyo and the United Planets are so irreconcilable? All we can do now is to make sure that a future, any future, is there to be made. And if it means dying to do so, then so be it. We are the children of heroes. We shall not shirk our duty."

"Besides," the strange girl with the mismatched red and green eyes who called herself simply Ion said brightly, "if this works, then maybe we'll ALL be in the new future you make! So everyone wins!"

"Not likely," Brainiac 5 said, before several people kicked him in the shin.

Chao made a happy sigh. "Now go! Don't make us have to teleport you into position. You have your duty… and we have ours. That's all anyone can ask."

Hearts pained, the Senshi called tearful good byes to their Small Lady, Saturn needing to be dragged an ultimately carried away. Negi looked at his descendant, and nodded, once, before handing her his staff. No words were exchanged. They knew what this meant. The Justice League dragged themselves reluctantly way, looking over their shoulders many times at the young people who had chosen to stand this ground. Green Lantern stared at the young girl who claimed to be al that was left of the Corps she served, until Yuuno pulled her away, Fate at his other side. He gave the girl as salute with is ring hand and turned, trying not to look back and failing miserably.

Ion watched as they left, finally letting a tear fall as Green Lantern and her friends walked away. "Good bye, mothers," she said, pulling off her glove and staring at the three rings there, two green and one yellow, stained by old marks that looked like blood. "Good bye, father."

Chao smiled at the theatrics. Then she turned to the pink-haired Eternal Sailor Moon next to her. "You know, the Springfield family has a tradition," she said. "In times of great danger, we find and kiss the person closest to us, for luck and to give them the power to continue this fight by our side."

Usagi the 2nd tilted her head rakishly. "Why, Miss Springfield, are you coming on to me?"

"Yes," Chao said, bluntly. Her eyes were intense. "It's our last moments alive. We don't have time to do this dance anymore."

Usagi paused. Then she smiled. "How do the women in your family put it? 'I don't dislike you'?"

"Good enough," Chao said, and suddenly they were in each other's arms as Vivio helpfully took time off from her drama to draw a circle under them.

PACTIO!

Vivio then turned to their field commander. "Might as well give the order, Mordred," she said.

Emiya Mordred nodded, drawing her mother's legendary sword Excalibur from her hip. She turned to her many half-siblings. "You heard the lady!" she barked like a drill sergeant. "Let's show them how things are done Fuyutsuki-style!"

Vivio turned towards the Time Trapper's forces, and raised her voice, throwing out a hand. "Sacred Heart! Raging Heart! Bardiche! Reinforce! **SET **_**UP!**_ Come at me, abominations! I am Vivio of the Justice League, last of the Green Lantern Corps! I am the Saint King! I am the Torchbearer! I am _Ion_, daughter of heroes! Look at me and know your doom! My counter-attack begins _**now!**_"

The assembled ranks of teenagers faced the enemy, and the cry rang forth as they became united for the first and last time under the name they had chosen when joining this suicide mission.

"_EXPENDABLES, ATTACK!_"

...

"_Daidouji Tomoyo of Earth, you have great love in your heart._"

"_Daidouji Tomoyo of Earth, you want it __**ALL**_"

Tomoyo stared at the Orange and Violet rings jockeying for her attention. Then she shrugged. "Okay."

...

Fate stared in horror at the form leaping for her, scythe in hand. Dead as dirt, it leered at her, gaping eyes framed by straggly hair. "Hello Fate. No hug for your big sister?"

Terror ran through Fate, and her power Ring's energy rose by 2 percent. "You're not Alicia!" she cried.

"And whose fault is that?" it sneered. "You buried me just so you can dance on my grave!" It lunged for her heart…

...

**END**

...

Some of this may happen, some may not, or not exactly the same way … but if they don't, I want them at least written down somewhere. Blame it on Hypertime…

Coming next: Takamachi Nanoha has beaten Precia, but now a more insidious enemy is targeting not just her, but every mage and magical girl on Earth. The Battle Lines are drawn. Who will be taken?

Kinomoto Sakura?

The Sailor Senshi?

Prisma Illya?

Traci 13?

Negi Springfield?

Evangeline?

Zatanna?

Black Alice?

Jason Blood?

Amakawa Yuto?

Princess Lilianne?

Himari of the Crimson Blade?

Hiriigizawa Eriol?

The Linkero Cores War has begun...

Please review, C&C welcome.

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	8. First Casualties or 'Negi Needs Therapy'

A/N: the knights haven't introduced themselves properly yet, but I'm getting tired of referring to them by color. In the same vein, everyone will be called by name, despite the fact they haven't introduced themselves properly yet. It saves the hassle.

YAY! I'm a Notable TvTropes Referencer! This chapter has been bought to you by: **TvTropes**! Ruining your life since 2004! I still intend to be referenced on as many pages there for as many of my fics as possible! Please help me, as it feels like cheating if I do it myself. I need to catch up with S'Tarkan! TvTrope it, dattebayo!

Also bought to you by the nice people over at Drunkards Walk! Not only does the name remind me of a forbidden area in my old school, they're so nice to mention some of my works, most especially this one! And so, I'm doing my part to get them more traffic! With specific special thanks to: **Jorlem, Drakensis, Paladindythe, yesilmavi, Rob Kelk, Florin, Stephen Mann, Foxboy, **and **Necratoid**. Because I quite understand the thrill of having people talk about you where other people can read it and be interested. Drunkards Walk it, dattebayo!

Oh, and please also tell me what you thought of the new and updated last chapter, 'kay? Now, if you'll excuse me, aside from this, I need to work on my Harry Potter fics, Raikiri Triken, and a couple of new fics about Kaiba Mokuba getting Raging Heart (yes, you read that right. Yes, if you think it's a cool idea, I was probably going to put it in at some point. Yes, Seto decides to build a Destructive Burst Stream Cannon of his own because he's jealous of little brother's Starlight Breaker), and a Wheel of Time Fic where Min gets Raging Heart and adopts Fate as her daughter while Olver becomes the new master of the Wolkenritter. I'm on a Nanoha kick, so sue me. Gwen Tennyson with Raging Heart, Saotome Haruna with the Book of Darkness, Tomoyo with Raging Heart (or maybe Kaleido Sapphire), _**BATMAN**_ with the Book of Darkness (the shear cute possible terrifies me, so I want to write it)…

...

Takamachi Nanoha of 2814

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 8: The Linker Cores War, Part 2: First Casualties or "Negi Will Now Need EVEN MORE Therapy"

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story, except maybe one in the Omakes. If I did, this would all be canon…

...

It was the red-clad girl who spoke, eyes looking wide, teeth barred in the kind of grin that eats boats. "_Linker Cores…_"

_Such __**power**__…_ Signum said to her fellow knights, her calm, flat gaze roamed across the assembled forces, lingering on Eternal Sailor Moon. _That girl alone could fill thirty pages. Perhaps thirty-five…_

_Thirty-five…_ Vita said, hands tightening on Graf Eisen. _Thirty-five pages…_

None looked up at the enemy barrier. None looked at each other. They came to an agreement anyway.

_Shamal, document all these mages for future harvesting,_ Signum said. _This might just have been our lucky night_

They attacked.

...

Despite his seeming invulnerability, Superman has many exploitable weaknesses. Many of these are a product of… well, humanity, or at least his desire to be a person, rather than, say, an avatar of righteous justice. Others, like Kryptonite and magic, are of a more technical nature. Still, lacking these two, the former weaknesses are the ones most regularly exploited.

An example of such weaknesses is this: although Superman is able to perceive, react to things, and move in a hyper-accelerated fashion– what the popular media call Superspeed– this is only when he actively wishes to, or when exertion has released the Kryptonian-equivalent of adrenaline. At rest, his perceptions are only slightly elevated above human normal, peaking below the level of, say, a highly paranoid, specially trained individual who might employ a motif based on an echo-locating flying mammal.

Another perceived weakness– by those who do not share his merciful views– is his tendency not to use lethal force. This makes him careful, and in high speed, high power situations against individuals of unknown resilience, makes him hesitate.

These two weaknesses combined were what it took for a suddenly speeding Vita to surprise him, her hammer swinging upward in a high arc and striking him in the chest. Her _magic_ hammer.

Technical weakness number two came into play, the kinetic energy of the blast piercing through his invulnerability and sending him crashing into the next building over.

Vita didn't have time to be satisfied, however, before a crackling streak of white suddenly attacked her.

Negi Springfield's Raiten Taisou 2 configuration of Magia Erebea, however, shares none of these weaknesses. His fists struck Vita at least three times before she managed to raise a protective barrier. Two more punches were all it took to break _that_ down. Vita's teeth clenched as electrified punches suddenly began to rain on her, her hammer swining as she tried to counterattack, using her airborne maneuverability as well as she could despite Negi's attempts to force her down…

The others were busy as well. Yuuno tried to bind the other two, resorting to his magic rather than his new ring out of familiarity. Fate held back, not wanting to be caught in the area of effect. The two Wolkenritter managed to evade the glowing chains, however, their melee combat-orientation holding them in good stead. Those surrounding them charged forward to engage.

It immediately became obvious that 12 to one odds in melee came with problems.

The Outer Senshi found themselves unable to use their highly destructive attacks, lest they hit any allies, and those with oversized weapons, such as Setsuna, Asuna and Kaede were unable to utilize them for the same reason. Despite this, Kotaro charged on ahead, fingernails lengthening into claws as he, Fei and Arf attacked Zafira, while Kaleido Sapphire– Miyu– Excalibur in her hands, and Sailor Uranus, Space Sword ready, closed on Signum. The others held back, waiting for an opening. Rin, Luvia, Konoka, Yua and Nodoka, with their smaller spells, took quick pots shots at the Wolkenritter as often as possible, while Sailor Mars and Sailor Venus moved to protect Mercury and Green Lantern at Eternal Sailor Moon's urging.

An imaginary design of a smile traced itself on Signum's lips, the lips themselves never changed their calm placidity. "Insufficient," she said as she batted away the butter-knife-like weapon, spinning in a kick to the Senshi's gut as she used Laevatein to guard against Excalibur. A flicker of movement was all the warning she had to dodge, Bardiche's scythe form nearly taking her out as Fate rejoined the attack.

Zafira too was holding his own, but the fight was less elegant and more elemental, with punches and kicks striking from both sides. White spikes rose like flowers, but his enemies were good enough to not be impaled, though much blood was drawn.

Abruptly, the two Wolkenritter changed tactics, suddenly shooting up into the sky. Immediately, Setsuna, Fate, Yuuno, Arf, Illya and Miyu shot into the air, weapons drawn. The sound of weapon's clashing began anew

"Now's our chance, everyone!" Rin cried, pointing upward. "Now, while they're in the open! Let's hit them with everything we've got!"

People were more than happy to comply.

Spells and attack screamed upwards and downwards as they tried to catch the Knight in a crossfire. Some of the attacks struck Yuuno's barrier as they rose, and it shivered slightly.

Suddenly, a giant green cylinder appeared in the sky, its shape seeming to be shake and wobble like jello. Never the less, the giant ring construct, weak and painfully amateurish as it was quickly surrounded the two aerial enemies, beginning to constrain their movement. They had to move faster and more frantically as they tried to avoid the attacks, many times needing to resort to directly shielding themselves.

"Yes!" Asuna cried. "There's no way they can escape now! Negi, use one of your thunder spells! Hit 'em with Thousand Bolts! One good hit should take them down! Negi, where are you?-!-?"

Ala Alba looked about frantically, realizing they'd lost sight of Negi and Vita in the ensuing confusion.

"Nodoka, your Artifact!" Yue said. "See if there's any clue to where he is!"

Nodoka tilted her head as her reading ear spoke, and paled. "He's in trouble! There'd doing something to him, something painful! He can't move!"

"WHAT?" Ala Alba cried.

...

Negi stared down in pained surprise at the bloody hand extending from his chest, cupping a glowing light. Above him, Vita knelt, holding him down and quiet as best as she could amidst the ruined interior of another building. Graf Eisen dripped with the mage's blood, and several penetrative injuries stood testament to the beating Negi had taken.

_Astonishing! _Shamal said. _There are several abnormalities, likely a result of however he uses his magic, but overall, he's even more powerful than the girl who wounded me. Twenty seven pages at most. Almost finished._

_About time,_ Vita responded. _Even without that magic boost he was using, he's feisty. He's still trying to get me off. Probably good knight material._

_Hurry, _Signum's calm, unruffled voice said, despite the highly violent things Vita could hear being attempted on her person. _We cannot maintain this distraction forever. _

_There,_ Shamal said. _Done. I believe I can do one more before. It is quite fortunate that these new arrivals do not possess barrier jackets. _

Vita didn't wait, striking the ceiling and lightly burying the young mage in rubble. She'd been lucky to separate him from the others so Shamal could take his Linker Core, and strange or mutated or whatever it was, it was obviously sufficient to the task of filling the Book of Darkness's pages. Still, she limped slightly as she beat a hasty retreat. She hoped the bruises wouldn't show too much. She didn't want Hayate to worry.

Positioning herself under her target, she loaded a cartridge into Graf Eisen…

...

Eternal Sailor Moon had no warning. The portion of the roof she was standing on suddenly broke apart, and she found herself falling into empty space. A couple of floors had already passed her by before she was suddenly tackled sideways, knocking the breath out of her and killing her scream before it could even be born. The cries of her friends realizing she was missing had only just begun.

Vita gave her another hit as a precaution, holding her down as Shamal did that trick of her with the Mirror of Travels one last time.

_Incredible… _Shamal said as the girl began to jerk and convulse as the Book of Darkness drained her. _Signum was being pessimistic in her assessment. There's at least forty pages worth in her, perhaps mo–_

Abruptly, Shamal's hand convulsed, and hastily drew back.

_I've been located, _Shamal's said. _The distraction is over. Best we go._

_Agreed,_ Signum said. _Initiating escape. _

Above, the barrier shattered…

...

Lindy's fist struck her armrest in a rare fit of temper as the Wolkenritter escaped. "Darn it!" she said. Annoyed as she was, she was also conscious of the need to keep her language clean around her son. It was probably a futile wish, but a mother could dream, couldn't she? "Send a medical team there on the double! Start arranging preparations for the necessary medical treatment in the main office! And see if you can send a message to Oa, inform them that Green Lantern-chan has been injured but we're tending to her. I'm not sure about their command structure, but this should let them know at least, if Green Lantern misses a report that's scheduled."

Below, Amy and the people under her command struggled to get a tracking lock on the escaping Knights, but to no avail. Lindy heard Amy's frustration as the locks broke completely, making them lose track of the targets.

The next hour or so was hectic and busy. Aside from Green Lantern, they found two others, a rather feminine-looking boy about her age who looked like someone had at him with a small pickaxe and a blonde girl with a hair-style similar to Fate's who was unconscious, both under a light layer of rubble.

The Sailor Senshi got to her first, quickly borrowing whatever cloth they could from the others who were wiling to obscure the girl's face. Lindy had been tempted to scan the girl despite this so they could know her identity– it _had_ to be the Sailor Moon girl, right?– but instead had the girl left alone, and gave Amy and Chrono discreet instructions to keep her off the records of any sort of identification-capable device. There _was_ such a thing as courtesy after all. And as Chrono had put it, "Honor between allies wasn't dead".

Superman had quickly been found and excavated, and despite sporting a large round bruise and some bruised ribs under that insisted he was fine and it was nothing a little sunlight couldn't cure. He'd tried to go search for th culprits, but unfortunately they'd left no trail his senses could track, and eventually he had to stop, clearly frustrated

Green Lantern and the other two injured– the other had been identified as 'Negi Springfield', a bit of info which Lindy had quietly had relegated to the deepest, most obscure corner possible– had been brought aboard the Asura, followed by a veritable harem of concern, grieving and in some cases hysterical companions and one young man in a tuxedo who had arrived suddenly just as they'd been about to transport the blonde girl aboard.

The others, Lindy had gotten aboard by the simple expedient of asking nicely and offering cookies. She felt vaguely like a pedophile doing so, but Green Lantern wasn't the only one with reports to file, and she needed to know what the girls had seen.

Besides, she needed to do something during the trip to the Bureau Main Office. Knowing there would be no way to keep them separated, she opted to do the best she could, interviewing them separately and keeping the others occupied by the simple expedient of pointing them towards the cafeteria, having the kitchens make more cookies and try to shake off the feeling she was a pedophile.

...

"So _you_ found the fourth attacker?" Nagase Kaede asked Kinimoto Sakura. The ninja was one of the few members of Ala Alba there, the others either crowding around Negi's bed, the hallway outside the infirmary, or in the gym letting off frustration on each other. The only other members of the group present were two rather flatchested young girls who other– new– Green Lantern Yuuno Scrya had spoken to briefly, and were currently taking it in turns to cry and comfort each other.

Sakura nodded morosely, munching disconsolately on a cookie. "I'd gone there to help Green Lantern-chan, but…" she shook her head frantically, head drooping as she placed her hands over it. "It wasn't what I as expecting, Kaede-san. Those people… what they did… what _we_ did to them…" she shook her head again, as if in denial, or as if doing so could shake her thoughts into a pattern she could understand.

"So you stepped back," Kaede said. "You didn't attack. And now you feel like a coward for doing so."

Sakura blushed as she hung her head in shame, only to feel Kaede's hand on her shoulder. She looked up.

The ninja's normally slit-eyed gaze were open and looking down at her compassionately. "It's all right," she said. "It shouldn't come easily to everyone, violence like that. You have a good heart. Do not be ashamed of it."

Sakura blushed again.

Kaede returned the gesture. "Now, you say you stepped back from the battle. Was that when you felt the fourth?"

Sakura nodded. "I felt another presence there that I hadn't seen. It was some distance away, but strong, and I didn't want to hurt them to badly, so I used The Fight Card–"

...

Superman kept a vigil on Nanoha, broken only when he'd spoken to Lindy Harlaown about what little he remembered of the encounter. His views on magic weren't as bad as Bruce's, particularly with Nanoha showing up every so often to show him how it could be used for good (so to speak. That Starlight Breaker of hers was nothing if not terrifying), but there were some days, like when it had been used on him offensively, that he really hated the stuff. Still, it wasn't polite to say so to the leader of the group who used a lot of it, particularly when they were about to use more to help a friend of his.

Yuuno and the blonde girl named Fate had stayed with Nanoha as well, but they often had to leave because of duties. Still, he was far from lonely. Tuxedo Mask stood in as loyal a vigil over the possibly-Eternal-Sailor-Moon's bed one place over, holding her hand and keeping the crude mask he'd made with a part of his cape over her face. Superman, for his part, made sure Nanoha's mask was firmly in place as well.

Over on the other side, the red-haired girl with bells in her hair kept an equally sharp watch on injured the boy Negi, her face stiff in a way that made it perfectly clear she dearly wanted to do some violence. Outside, his hearing could pick up the sounds of ht other girls who had not been allowed to stay in the room. There was an occasional hysterical cry, followed soon after by harsh and exasperated reprimands. They, too, obviously wanted to do violence against something.

There is, however, only so long a being can stand still and determined while entertaining thoughts of vengeance and "what ifs". At some point, everyone gives in to the urge to make small talk.

"Um, that's a nice cape," Tuxedo Mask said awkwardly.

"Uh, thanks," Superman said. "Clark Kent's mother made it for me."

"The American reporter?" Asuna said, perking up, a small smile on her face. "He's pretty hot."

Even amongst superbeings, it's seldom _good_ small talk…

...

When Nanoha found herself waking in a strange place, the first thing she did was to see if she was still wearing her mask. It was. She nearly panicked, her mind quickly jumping to all sorts of horrifying conclusions regarding how long her parents were going to ground her for being a magical girl without telling them.

A reassuring hand took her own, and she looked up to see the strong, distinctive jaw-line of the Man of Steel. "Superman-sama! Thank goodness you're here! Can you please explain things to my parents so they won't ground me for being a magical girl?"

Nanoha was still pretty out of it.

Superman chuckled, and there was relief in his voice. "It's all right Nanoha. Your parent's aren't hereto catch you, so you don't have to worry. You're in the infirmary of the TSAB's main office. You'd been hurt pretty badly."

Bits of memory came to Nanoha, and she raised a hand to her chest. Nothing was sticking out. "There was… a hand…"

Superman nodded. "Negi told us about it. Apparently the same thing to them and Eternal Sailor Moon. No one was seriously hurt," he quickly reassured her when he saw her expression, and had to keep a smile off his face. She took her duty to protect so seriously. "They've been patched up. Now, you stay here while I call a doctor, all right. And whatever you do, _don't use magic_. Doctor's orders."

Nanoha nodded, squirming to make herself more comfortable on the hospital bed as Superman stepped out of the room. "Ring-chan, power check."

"Ring power at 15 percent," the ring replied.

Nanoha nodded. That should be enough for her purposes. No need to get her Power Battery out then. "Ring-chan, begin recording for after-action report…"

Injured or not, she still needed to do her paperwork, after all.

It was this sort of behavior that would someday have people, Batman included, trying to stage an intervention for her…

...

The doctor finished his scan of Nanoha's chest– at her 'Linker Core', apparently a sort of immaterial magic-regulation organ– under the watchful eyes of Superman. The doctor had just finished his scanning and was telling Nanoha the kind of advice all doctors everywhere gave their patients– which is never 'drink all you want, party hard, sleep late, wake up early, have any number of unprotected coitus, pick up heavy loads with your back and live like there's no tomorrow'– when the door suddenly opened, revealing the concerned faces of Chrono and Fate.

It took Superman precisely 1.16715 seconds after the doctor and Chrono left to sense the sudden air of tension in the room. He made a show of looking out the window. "Oh dear, a cat's stuck up in a tree and can't get down. I'd better take care of this. I'll see you later Green Lantern." Not exactly the most graceful exit out, but it did the job.

The door closed behind him as well, leaving Fate and Green Lantern alone in the room.

There was a long, uncomfortable silence that was only just barely not sexually charged because they were a bit too young for it. Nanoha tried to make eye-contact while Fate tried to do the exact opposite. "Fate-chan…" the brunette said.

Fate turned to look at her reluctantly. "Green Lantern-sa–"

Nanoha raised a hand. "Stop!" she said, ripping off her mask. "I told you, Fate-chan, call me Nanoha. Please. Friends don't call friends by their job."

Fate smiled. "Nanoha…-chan," she said, giving both parts a caress.

Nanoha smiled in approval. "I'm sorry our reunion had to happen like this. Are you okay? You were _amazing_, Fate-chan, suddenly appearing to the rescue like that!"

Fate blushed at the praise, trying to hide her bandaged hand behind her back. "Y-yeah, it's just a scratch. That aside, are you…"

Nanoha nodded. "I'm fine too. Ring-chan was able to protect me to a degree when I lost my barrier jacket. But I probably wouldn't be here if it weren't for you and everyone else, Fate-chan." The girl seemed to slump slightly. "It's all my fault. I was so _stupid_. I got overconfident, thinking I wouldn't need to use my ring, and nearly died because of it. If I'd been less arrogant, been a better officer, I wouldn't have gotten so injured, and Sailor Moon-sama and Negi-chan wouldn't have gotten hurt so badly…"

Nanoha looked up as she felt Fate's hand on her shoulder. The blonde's face was concerned and determined. "Stop it," Fate said. "Don't blame yourself, Nanoha. Not everything is your fault. Just because you have responsibility does not mean you are solely responsible for everything that happens. You did what you thought was best at the time."

Nanoha stared at her, then closed her eyes, leaning against Fate's torso. The other girl made as if to draw back, then stopped herself and stayed in place. "Thank you for saving me, Fate-chan, you and Yuuno-kun," Nanoha said. "And… I'm really happy that we're able to meet again."

Fate seemed surprised at these words, then smiled herself. "Yes. I'm happy to see you again too, Nanoha…"

Nanoha smiled at her, and put her arms around Fate's middle as the blonde put her other arm around Nanoha's shoulders. The two stood together. All was right with the world…

...

In another area, Usagi, still in her improvised mask, was being bawled out by Sailor Mars for being careless and getting taken out so easily, while Asuna was yelling at Negi for being stupid– again– and letting himself be maneuvered by the enemy, and hadn't he already learned Elegant Gothic Lolis could be the most dangerous things on the planet? And if he hadn't, she was sure Evangeline would be more than willing to drum that into his skull the way she had everything else…

The medical crew stared as the other people around the two patients made no move to stop this.

Just another day for crazy earth people…

...

Yuuno was hard a work doing the diagnostics for Raging Heart and Bardiche.

That is, he was hard at work getting his _ring_ to use the computer to do the diagnostics on Raging Heart and Bardiche. Like every boy with a new toy, he wanted to play with it, if only to take his mind off–

The door opened. He turned as Arf got up excitedly. "Nanoha! Fate!"

Nanoha scratched her cheek indecisively, once more hidden behind her mask and the ring-generated simulacra of her barrier jacket. "Be careful with that name, Arf-san! The door was still open. Yuuno-kun! Enjoying your new ring?"

Yuuno grinned. "Nanoha! It's awesome! But are you all right?"

Nanoha smiled. "I'm fine, thanks to everyone. And I still have to thank all those magical girls who came to my rescue. Oh, Ring-chan, what were you _thinking_?"

"Having the enemy heavily outnumbered by dependable allied forces seemed like a good idea at the time, ma'm," the ring said, though there was a hint of sheepishness. "Besides, are we not here to ascertain the condition of Raging Heart?"

Nanoha turned to the field wherein the two Intelligent Devices, Raging Heart and Bardiche floated. Fate stood in front of it, staring at her yellow triangle with worry. "Bardiche… I'm sorry," Fate said. "Because I was so weak, you…" Now it was Nanoha's turn to put a comforting hand on Fate's shoulder.

"How extensive is the damage?" Chrono asked.

"To be honest, it doesn't look good…" Yuuno said, as tendrils of green energy began manipulating the holographic controls again. He grinned. "This is so cool! Ahem… their automatic repair systems are active and functioning, but once critical structural repairs are complete, they'll need to be reactivated, and a great deal of parts will need to be replaced…"

Nanoha stood with Fate as the others provided expository dialogue behind them, staring at their injured devices. "Thanks for trying your best, Raging Heart," she said softly. "Take this time to rest up."

"Fate," Chrono said, interrupting the moment. "It's about time for the interview…"

...

Meanwhile, a great evil was rising…

"All right!" Saotome Haruna said, slamming her hand down on the tabletop in the cafeteria that they'd appropriated. "I call this historical first meeting of the United Magical Girls Association of Japan to order!"

"Eh?" Illya, still in full Prisma wear, said. "I thought we were going to call it the Fate/Stay Knights?"

"Justice Society of Japan!" Sailor Venus suggested.

"Sexy Force!"

"Negi-kun's Shotacon Army!"

"HELL NO!"

Crewmen stared and edged away. Superman, who'd come down for a cup of coffee, did his best not to appear like he knew them.

Yes, that's right, the man in tights doesn't want to be associated with the crazy girls. Read that as you will.

Haruna got the resulting rumble back out of control by simple Magnificent Bastardry. "_Imperium Graphices! Summon Overfiend, Great Paru-sama Edition!_"

There was much screaming and order was restored. Haruna, apparently, put much less emphasis on 'Magnificent'.

"All right!" she tried again, slamming her hand down on the tabletop in a kinetic echo. "I call this historical first meeting of the United Magical Girls Association of Japan to order! We all know why we're here! Those people, whoever they are, managed to take down not just Green Lantern-chan, but also Sailor Moon-sama and Negi-kun! Clearly, they are only capable of great evil and are a threat to the world at large!"

Surprisingly, most everybody nodded. Sakura was the exception. She raised her hand. "Um, excuse me…?"

"The Great Paru-sama recognizes Fetishistic Mask Girl!" Haruna cried, pointing dramatically. "Your question?"

"Hoe…" Sakura sighed. She really needed to finally have a talk with Tomoyo about these clothes. "Um, why do you say that? I mean, w-we attacked them as brutally, so why does this mean _they're_ evil?"

"A good question!" Haruna said, drawing her Artifact out again. After the non-Ala Alba members had stopped screaming in abject terror and people had gotten back to their seats, Haruna drew one of her Quick Exposition Stat Charts ©. "Eternal Sailor Moon-sama, as we all know, is the epitome of friendly sweetness and light! Her Charisma is in the mid-thirties, and she has **Make Friends **as an at-will special ability! Combined with her high Diplomacy score, the bonuses she gets for her Messianic Icon Prestige Class, the circumstance bonuses she gets for her clothes, and the fact that she automatically gets a chance to roll for Diplomacy to change a person's Attitude as soon as she meets people, she is the Ultimate Magical Girl of Friendliness! Even with Critical Failure roll of 1, she should still have been able to move the enemy's Attitude from Hostile to Friendly, or at least Indifferent! That fact that they didn't change their attitude must mean they have an extremely high **Friendship Resistance**, or an equally high **Evil Rating**, possibly at least 9000 **Kilonazis**!"

"You've been playing D&D with Eva-chan and reading webcomics again, haven't you Haruna?" Chisame deadpanned.

"You sure you're not related to Ranma?" Sailor Venus said.

"Of course not! Shadow Crystal Mage isn't _that_ crazy and/or unoriginal! And someone fix that wall!" Haruna said, pointing at the computer monitor. The wall was duly repaired.

"Anyway," Haruna continued. "Besides Eternal Sailor Moon-sama, Negi himself is equally formidable in the Befriending department! After all, his **High Concept **of 'English Teacher Combat Supermage', allows him a lot of situational combat advantages, and his Legendary (+8) skill scores in **Fists**, **Discipline**, **Conviction**, not to mention his taking the **Refinement** ability at least 20 times to outrageously increase his spell power, his Sponsored Magic ability **Magia Erebea**, and his **Memetic Sex God** and** Defeat Means Friendship** Stunts mean he is nearly unbeatable in either Physical, Mental or Social conflicts, not to mention his Shota Sex Appeal and **Woobie** Aspects should have rendered those girls immediately helpless! That fact that it didn't clearly means they are villains, because they're so much stronger than him, thereby keeping him from being a Boring Invincible Hero and giving us some conflict!"

"The Dresden Files RPG system based on the FATE system and Jim Butcher's Critically Acclaimed Dresden Files Novels– the one with the zombie T-rex in it– produced by Evil Hat games too, Haruna?" Chisame said disapprovingly. "Such blatant plugging! Have you no shame?"

"I'm merely a servant of a higher power," Haruna said innocently.

"Power high on crack, you mean," Chisame said. "Can someone fix that wall again?"

"Hey, where do you want this lampshade?" someone asked someone else at another table.

"Just hang it anywhere," his friend told him.

"Eh…" Sakura said, eyes whirling at all the unfamiliar terms. "Hoeeee!"

"Here, let me show you the relevant pages on Tv Tropes," Sailor Mercury said kindly.

"NO!" Sakura cried. "Internet, bad place! Tomoyo's been there, and she's been _doing_ things…"

Clearly, she's not as dense as she seems.

"Enough!" Haruna cried. "We need to discuss…_** OUR COUNTER ATTACK!**_ Obviously, aside from strategic planning and intelligence gathering, we will need assets to bankroll this, so… does anyone want to pose for a few manga?"

"_**THAT'S**_ what this is about?" Asuna exploded.

Japan's last line of magical defense, people. One wonders why Tokyo Tower doesn't get X/1999ed up more often…

...

Lindy Harlaown faced her crew and allies. "The _Asura_'s crew, together with Green Lantern-chan and possibly her allies, have been assigned to spearhead the Book of Darkness Lost Logia and Mage Attack cases. However, because our crucial _Asura_ will be out of commission for a while, we will set up a temporary base in the region where the events first began."

Nanoha wondered what that meant as Lindy began handing out the division assignments.

"…Finally, the command team will live in a neighborhood close to Green Lantern-chan's primary patrol nexus for protection reasons," Lindy finished, and everyone rolled their eyes affectionately at their captain's blatantly obvious real purpose.

Nanoha blinked, and turned to Fate as Superman stifled as smile. The Green Lantern grinned. "Yay!"

...

The ride back to Earth– a relayed Transport spell– was relatively uneventful, except for Haruna frantically to draw copies of the system in an attempt to get them to Hakase to reverse-engineer. Before hand, however…

Negi and Eternal Sailor Moon were finally on their feet, the latter now wearing one of the Magical Disguise Glasses © Ala Alba had bought in Mundus Magicus during that time people thought they were criminals. Another copy had been given to the interested TSAB for them to try and replicate as thanks for patching up Negi. Still another was discreetly provided to Superman. No one asked.

Green Lantern had been expecting to do some groveling as she thanked the girls for coming to her aid and apologizing for getting two of them so badly hurt. They would have none of it.

"We know how hard it is to fight alone," Civilian!Eternal Sailor Moon said, smiling kindly. "And we know you work harder than most. Of _course _we'd come to help you. You're a friend, Green Lantern-chan. Besides, we magical girls have to stick together!"

"Aw, listen to you acting all cool and leaderly!" Sailor Venus teased.

"Still, she's right!" Illya said, giving Green Lantern a thumbs up and trying to ignore the fact her Maid-fetish Switch was locked partially open at over 53 thousand. "We're magical girls! We help each other! Maid costume optional!"

"Illya…" Kaleido Ruby chided.

Negi, surrounded by a bevy of concerned females and currently making every male in sight– yes, even Superman and Tuxedo Mask, to a degree– Orange-burningly jealous, smiled a bit tiredly at Green Lantern. Unlike her and Eternal Sailor Moon, he'd also had _extensive_ physical injuries, and not all of them could be healed by Konoka. "It was our honor to fight with you, Green Lantern-san. After all, I know you would do the same for any of us. As a Magister Magi, I can't do any less."

Green Lantern finally allowed herself to smile. "Thank you, minna-san. Um, incidentally Negi-chan, what shampoo do you use for your hair? Because I can't help but notice how smooth and silky it is."

Asuna, intimately familiar with Negi's bathing habits, rolled her eyes as Negi blinked with confusion. "Um, my hair? I just use some generic brand. I'm not very sure which, Asuna-san is the one who buys it."

"Sunsilk with conditioner," Konoka provided cheerfully.

"Oh, thank you for telling me your beauty secrets, Negi-chan!" Green Lantern said. "Though it's too bad a pretty girl like you wears her hair so short. You'd look so nice with a couple of ribbons."

Kotaro suddenly burst out in hysterical laughter, clutching at his stomach on the floor and trying desperately to breath as a worried Superman checked him for Joker Venom. The wide, definitely Joker-esque grin spreading on Haruna's face was quite terrifying, causing Yellow Rings from the future to try and break the time barrier to get at her.

"Eh?" said Negi, suddenly chibified in confusion as Ala Alba all developed interesting looks. "But I'm n–"

"Oh, she's right Negi-CHAN!" Asuna said with a wide, malicious smile. "You should _really_ start growing your hair out long. Remember how cute you looked during the school festival when you wore that kitsune girl outfit? The boys were all flocking in!"

"I have some ribbons that would look absolutely _darling_ on you, Negi-chan!" Konoka said. "Maybe we can try them out at home!"

"And hey, no need to be so self-conscious about your chest, Negi-chan!" Asakura said, her own set going 'gainax-gainax' and making all sorts of watchers happy. Neptune elbowed Uranus for staring. "Maybe you're just a late bloomer like Yuetchi, Honya and Makie-chan. And if not, I'm sure some boy out there will be able to appreciate you for you. Remember Tertium-kun?"

"B-but… I'm not… I'm a…" Negi turned to Superman and Tuxedo Mask beseechingly as the other girls began to regal Green Lantern with all sorts of Negi-chan anecdotes.

As Superman dazedly wondered whether he should stop this, Tuxedo Mask, with all solemnity, pulled a rose out of nowhere and handed it to Negi. "A beautiful flower for a beautiful flower," he said, face completely straight.

Negi wanted to cry.

Sakura and Eternal Sailor Moon looked at each other, feeling out of the loop.

"I don't get it," the reincarnated Princess said, vocalizing their thoughts.

Tuxedo Mask patted her on the shoulder. "I'll explain it all to you later, dear."

Green Lantern smiled. "Still, with you two injured, I promise to patrol your areas a bit more extensively to help pick up the slack. It's the least I can do"

"Of course you will!" Sailor Jupiter said. "Because you're nice that way, Green Lanter-chan!"

On this happy note, they headed home.

"But I'm a bo–" Negi tried to cry one last time, and was cut off as he was Transportered away

...

Night, on the roof of a tall building.

"So, you're here at last," Signum said as Vita approached.

"Hmm," the shorter girl said in acknowledgement.

"The TSAB will probably start moving faster, so we'll have to change tactics," Shamal said.

"Agreed," Signum said, keeping her coat closed. "Shamal, how many pages have we fill again?"

Shamal opened the Book of Darkness and quickly checked. "399," she said, a bit breathlessly. "79 of those were from our last encounter."

"79 pages," Vita breathed. "So much!"

"It should have been more, but I was interrupted when I was downloading from our last target. She could have had at least forty, possibly even as high as fifty pages, but I only got 33. The boy Vita managed to disable gave around 27, and the girl who broke the barrier gave a little under 19."

"Boring technical statistics smoothly inserted into the dialogue," Zafira commented. "Good job."

"Thank you. By the way, I bought that shade for the lamp in the living room."

"Good. That bare bulb was starting to annoy me," Vita said. She looked out over the city. "So many powerful Linker Cores… knowing they're out there, we wouldn't need to hunt around randomly. I've been doing some research. Some of those we encountered were apparently a group called the 'Sailor Senshi', and I managed to get some footage of something called the Mahora Budokai that seemed to have those girls with big swords as well as that boy. They say the videos are a hoax, but it doesn't look like it. Even if we just concentrate on them, we'd harvest Linker Cores at a phenomenal rate. The Book could be filled before the end of the year. Then we can live in tranquility with Hayate forever…"

"Exposition smoothly inserted into dialogue," Zafira said. "Full marks."

"It's not as simple as that," Signum said. "Despite the results of our last encounter, the fact remains we would be heavily outnumbered should we choose to pursue this form of… 'harvesting' as Vita insists on calling it. and the more often we encounter these mages–"

"Magical Girls," Vita corrected.

"–these Magical Girls," Signum amended. "The more likely they will develop some sort of strategic or tactical countermeasure, and more efficiently utilize their numbers advantage. We will need to some kind of counter measure ourselves. It would be foolish in the extreme to become overconfident at this point. If anything happened, Hayate…"

She fell silent as they all contemplated the grim possibility.

"Presentation of the goals and difficulties of meeting our objective, combined with pathos and humanization," Zafira said. "A solid effort!"

The three turned to glare at him. "Will you stop that commentary and fix that wall?" Vita snapped.

"Sorry."

They all went back to their thoughts. "A dilemma," Signum said. "We could range far a field and avoid the TSAB, slowly gathering Link Cores, or we could risk contact by planning several attacks against known local targets who offer significant returns, with high risk of combat, and possibly even defeat." She glared at Zafira, daring him to comment. He wisely stayed quiet. "Unless we can conceive some sort of advantage of our own, I am not willing to commit us completely to the latter."

"There might be a way," Shamal mused, opening up the Book of Darkness near the beginning. "Remember the mage we found floating inside that crystal? Apparently, he knew how to create servant-constructs of admittedly limited intelligence. I believe a little tweaking should be more than enough to allow us to create more intelligent servant drones capable of greater attack capability. It would require sacrificing a page or two of the Book of Darkness to produce them," they all cringed at the thought, thinking of Hayate, "But given our expected returns on a successful operation, it should be acceptable."

The end of the sentence rose, clearly a question rather than a statement. Using the power in the book in such a manner was not a trifling thing. Yet given the odds they faced, not to mention the unrelenting deadline of the book's draining Hayate dry, how many choices did they have?

"So be it," Signum said, and the other agreed by virtue of not disagreeing. "What are these combat-constructs called, Shamal?"

"Youma," Shamal said.

Vita snorted. "That's a crappy name," she said. "Sounds like the kind of stupid thing a rapper would say."

"Agreed," Zafira said. They watched him warily. "What? No more comments, see?"

"Yes, the name is rather distasteful," Signum said. "That mage that we found in the stasis crystal, what was his name, Shamal?"

"Jadeite, Signum. Jadeite of the Shitennou," Shamal read from the book.

Signum nodded. "Than for his contribution to the cause, we will honor him. Shamal, find out exactly what it will take to make these… Jadeite Servants to function within acceptable combat standards. Zafira, we will recon the known areas our targets occupy, and begin surveillance for intelligence gathering. Vita, you are to collect a few more Linker Cores off-world, just in case, and to misdirect the TSAB as to our intentions. See if you can find some particularly easy prey. And give Shamal the location of where you found your information. I assume Wikipedia?"

Vita shrugged, not at all repentant. "Almost as good as TvTropes."

"It will ruin your life," Zafira warned.

"If I can be with Hayate, I don't care."

And on that, they all agreed.

...

Negi stumbled towards his classroom, having needed to pick up a few things at his office first. He still felt sore in a way that had nothing to do with his physical body, and everything to do with his magic. He'd been forbidden from using magic for the next several days, a restriction Ala Alba was taking very seriously, confiscating his staff, wands and the ring Evangeline had given him.

This did not stop Evangeline from putting him through physical training though. Still, the master meant well, he knew she did. She was a very caring person at heart, and very gentle.

Somewhere, a sneeze that was _supposed_ to go to Evangeline got misdirected and ended up going to someone else because the sneeze felt it had the wrong address.

He slid open the door to his class, smiling at everyone. "Good morning everyone," he said happily.

"GOOD MORNING, NEGI-CHAN!" the class said, and he felt his blood turn to ice.

"Negi-chan, try out this miniskirt!" Misa said, waving the offending garment.

"Negi-chan, we have makeup for you!" the Narutaki twins said.

"Negi-chan, try out this WonderBra, it'll improve your chest!" Sakurako said.

"Girla, from now on you'll be wearing Elegant Gothic Lolita at training, just like everyone else!" Evangeline cried, waving around just such a dress and grinning so widely Negi was reminded of a shark movie. Or Chachazero.

"Negi-chan, I bought those ribbons!"

"Negi-chan, put on this thong!"

The last coherent thought Negi had was that he needed to clear the record with Green Lantern as soon as possible.

Just another day with the class…

...

"Wow, what a wonderful adventure Sakura-chan had!" Tomoyo said. "I'll have to ask Green Lantern-chan for videos for my collection!"

"Hoe, Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura said, slumping slightly.

Tomoyo smiled her saintly, mysterious smile © as they headed for school, meeting up with Lee on the way. Still, a part of what Sakura-chan had told her worried her. If Tomoyo understood things correctly– there was room for error, since being the shear, awesome wonderfulness that was Sakura-chan could indeed be distracting– than these people that Sakura-chan had been instrumental in helping defeat– she'd practically taken care of the whole thing!– were after magical girls, likely to drain them of their power as was so often the case. Therefore, it was only a matter of time before Sakura-chan herself was attacked!

Tomoyo couldn't have that. And while she would dearly love to take a camcorder to the skull of any mad, heretical, insane fool who would _dare_ touch the holy divinity that was Sakura-chan's sinfully virginal body– or, for preference, take her Lex-Blaster 500 and shoot them dead on the spot, and save a perfectly good camcorder she could use for more productive things like taking more wonderful videos of Sakura-chan and posting them on YouTube for the world to see!– she knew that there was only so much she could do to protect Sakura-chan herself, trained as she was in Anything Goes Martial Arts and being a world-class shooter. No, she would have to find some other way. But who could she trust?

A happy memory of her training days came to her, and she slowed down a little behind Sakura and Lee– who was so obvious about his new crush on her it was amateurishly painful watch, and even more so considering Sakura didn't seem to notice– as she drew out her cell phone to search it's numbers, making a mental note to have a talk with the young sorcerer. They needed to be clear on things, after all. Only those clearly worthy of Sakura– a nearly impossible standard that Tomoyo aspired to every day– may so much as _think_ of garnering her romantic favor. As a good friend to Lee– she liked to think so– Tomoyo felt she needed to properly inform him of HOW THINGS SHOULD BE so he didn't commit any mistakes of the 'camcorder-bashing' or 'Lex-Blaster 500' variety.

Finally finding the number she needed, she dialed it and cheerfully waited through the ringing for an answer.

"Who is this, and how did you get this number?" the gruff reply on the other side said.

"Wilson-sensei! It's Tomoyo Daidouji," she said in perfect English. "Remember me? You asked me to become your apprentice once?"

"Little Purple Ravager? Is that you?" was the surprised and suddenly warmer reply on the other end. "How do you have this number?"

"Oh, the same way I have your email and the address I need to send your Christmas cards and birthday presents to, Wilson-sensei," Tomoyo said happily. "I believe as a wise man once put it, 'Screw the rules, I have money'! Sadly however, I'm afraid I'm calling you on business."

"You want me to kill one of your teachers?" the man on the other side half-joked.

Tomoyo's laugh was like golden bells. You know, the kind the Aztecs used to announce sacrifices. "Only if he reneges on his promise to my classmate to marry her when she graduates," she said, also half-joking. "No, this is a more personal matter, Wilson-sensei. I would like to ask you to guard my friend. I believe she might be in danger from meta-human attackers."

"Hmm," was the noncommittal reply. "What kind?"

"Magic users, at least four of them, using melee weapons with that can utilize long-range magical attacks," Tomoyo specified, for all the world like she was ordering a pizza. "One apparently managed to temporarily knock out Superman, so augmented strength is a definite possibility, as well as flight capability. I'm sorry, but I do not have much more information. Will that be a problem?"

"Hmm…" was the longer reply, and she could hear scratching across the line, as if someone was taking down notes. "Unknown full capabilities, guard work, surveillance, special munitions… this be a big order, Li'l Ravager."

"Money is no object," Tomoyo said. "Triple whatever you intend to charge if my friend remains completely unharmed. A thousand dollar bonus for each excruciatingly painful injury you can inflict on her attackers."

There was a long whistle that in a comic book might be translated as a string of dollar signs. "You're really serious about protecting this girl, aren't you, little missy?"

"Aren't I always serious, Wilson-sensei?" Tomoyo chirped.

There was a laugh. "You're scary, Li'l Ravager. I'd pay to see you go up against Luthor. All right then. You probably know how to send the money to me, and when you do, consider Deathstroke the Terminator at your service."

"Oh no, I couldn't possibly call you that!" Tomoyo said, shocked. "You will always be my wonderful Wilson-sensei!"

"Scary, girl. Scary."

"Stop over some time. As a bonus, I'll make you a new costume. That thing you're wearing could use more work."

"Well, far be it for me to argue with the client. You take care now little missy."

"Don't I always? Now, I have to hire some other people for this job as well, so if you'll excuse me, Wilson-sensei…?"

"Ah, back up. Call away, boss, call away!"

The call terminated, and Tomoyo cheerfully called another number. "Hello, Tatsumiya-sensei? Remember me?"

...

**- To be continued...**

...

A/N: I think my Tomoyo might actually be Lawful Evil, as opposed to Sakura's Chaotic Good…

I'm assuming the Knights have their own barrier breaking trick. Probably used up a page of BOD to use Nanoha's Starlight Breaker Plus themselves.

The Dresden Files RPG system. Check it out, dattebayo!

Poor Jadeite was found. Pity he became Book of Darkness filling.

Just a note: all the magic systems are all completely unrelated and different systems, though they all have Linker Cores, just used in different ways. The Senshi won't suddenly just need Devices, Nanoha won't be learning Magia Erebea any time soon, etc. They all use magic, but that's like saying they all use the electromagnetic spectrum. In that case, Negima magic is gamma rays, Senshi magic is infrared radiation, Kaleido sticks use the visible light spectrum, etc. I find it makes for an interesting story if every keeps diverse and different power sets, and don't become "Ain't it cool!" clones of each other. Otherwise it can quickly dissolve into 'What do you mean, it's not awesome?'. Still, that's my take. Your Mileage May Vary…

This is poking general fun in general, and is not at anyone in particular. Please don't flame me. Those red rings hurt! And not just skin! Feelings too…

...

**Omake: Rage of the Red Lanterns**

...

"_Be warned, our Lanterns," _one of the Guardians said through the rings of the waiting Green Lanterns. _"The Red Lanterns are unlike no enemy you have ever faced before. They know no reason, no mercy. They are nothing more now than pure anger in living form, with no reason in their lives but to take out their rage on others."_

"Eh, how bad can they be?" Guy Gardner said.

"GUY!" every other genre-savvy Corpsman said.

"What? What's the worse they could throw at us?"

"**GUY!**" Clearly, he wasn't learning.

And then the Red Lanterns came.

"Die, Team Jacob!" an insane girl said, blooding dripping from her surgically inserted fangs. "Die for you blasphemy against the beauty that is Bella and Edward! Die for your heresy!"

"Harry and Hermione forever!" another one in a red robe cried as plasma blood flooded from her mouth. "Rowling doesn't understand the subtext of the story! The time-skip sucked! WE ARE NOT DELUSIONAL!"

"It's AERIS, not AERITH you morons! That's how it is IN AMERICA!"

"KINGDOM HEARTS IS AN ACTION GAME, NOT SOME KIND OF YAOI EROGE! STOP MAKING PEOPLE THINK IT IS WITH YOUR CRAPPY HIGH SCHOOL AUS!"

"Die, Team Edward! Die for your blasphemy against the beauty that is Bella and Jacob! Die for your heresy! Die, Breaking Dawn!"

"Twilightards. My god," someone said.

"Well, at least it's not bees," a random expandable Lantern said, who was then expended.

"5Ds SUCKED!"

"Frank Miller sucks!"

"Shyamalan sucks!"

"The title is _**NARUTO**_, not _**SASUKE**_! YOU SUCK KISHIMOTO!"

"It's RAISING Heart, not RAGING Heart! That's how it is in canon!"

"It's RAGING Heart, not RAISING Heart! That's how it is IN AMERICA!

"I am Akane Tendo! Rargh! Ranma, you pervert!"

"I am Naru Narusegawa! Rargh! Ranma, you– er, KEITARO, YOU PERVERT!"

"Damn you ffnet! Stop messing around with what symbols can and can't be in an uploaded document without telling us! Do you know how many fics just lost scene breaks?-! You don't allow asterisks, you do allow asterisks, you don't again, make up your minds! And would it kill you to finally add the C2 search feature? And don't isolate the crossed-over stories, it just makes things harder to find!"

"Oh, poot!" Nanoha cried, face paling. "They've got god! They've got Shadow Crys–"

"HULK SMASH!"

"I was wondering when he'd show up…" Kyle Rayner said placidly…

...

**Be Afraid**

...

"_Saotome Haruna of Earth, you have the ability to instill great fear. Welcome to the–_"

"Oh, HELL NO!" Chisame cried as she and every other member of Ala Alba proceeded to blow the ring up into space dust. "NOT HAPPENING! NOT ON OUR WATCH!"

Haruna shrugged. "Eh, my Artifact's better anyway."

Fear rose in the universe.

...

**Coming up next!**

...

"You!" Sailor Jupiter cried. "How dare you show your faces here!"

Signum stood impassive. "We are here for your Linker Cores," she said, voice even, not a ripple to betray what she felt.

"You and whose army?-!-?" Crazy Shy Lolita Canary cried.

"NO!" screamed Sailor Mercury, but it was too late.

Signum snapped her fingers. "Servants, come forth."

Instantly, a large triangular array formed, and dozens of humanoid forms suddenly appeared. Some carried sword, some croquet mallets, others were beasts, and still others carried books.

"Servants Sabers," Signum ordered her units, pointing with Laevatein. "Attack."

"Servants Berserkers!" Vita cried, directing her own hammer-wielding units. "Attack!"

"Servants Avengers!" Zafira called. "Attack!"

"Servants Casters!" Shamal said, pointing. "Collect!"

"No!" Sailor Mercury cried. "Those are Dark Kingdom Youma. _They have Dark Kingdom Youma!_"

"Well, shit," Well-Spoken Sonic Lightning Flash said succinctly.

"Agreed," Most Excellent Superbat said.

...

Syaoran blinked, keeping the enemies and the unconscious Sakura within his peripheral vision as he looked at the older woman next to him. "Cassandra?"

She lightly rapped him on the head. "I'm on the job, dear cousin. That's Lady Shiva, to you."

Syaoran thought a minute. "Daidouji?" he guessed.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that," she said, face perfectly straight.

He shivered. "That girl is scary," he said.

"Amen," Deathstroke, David Cain, Deadshot, Tatsumiya and Shiva all chorused.

...

**END!**

...

Shiva's full name is Cassandra Wusan. So no, I am not confusing her with her daughter, who I will try to fit in…

Please Review! Don't tell me I made all those references for nothing! Tell me I entertained, amused and intrigued you! Else I might decide to give myself to Tsukuyomi and the forces of the Black… (*sob *sob *sob*, *angst *angst *angst*)

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	9. Reloading, Rearming, and Repairing Walls

A/N: To the nice people at Drunkard's Walk! You're welcome! Specifically: **Jorlem, Drakensis, Paladindythe, yesilmavi, Rob Kelk, Florin, Stephen Mann, Foxboy, Necratoid,** **LilFluff, Bob Schroeck**. See Necratoid, you're _not_ a Zoidberg! I even removed that pesky 'and' so that no one else feels like that! Don't believe in your nasty browser! Believe in _me_, who believes in _you_!

Always wanted to say that…

Will try to stop with the wall breaking jokes. To ensure this, I have bought this brand new, completely unbreakable Wall Protector 7000! Watch how unbreakable it is!

(Swings hammer)

Tinkle!

(Lots of shiny pieces and a new big hole in the wall)

I want my money back…

To the No Fourth Wall TvTropes page! As you can clearly see, I used a hammer, not an axe!

Oh, and **Jack Inqu**… you owe me…

...

Takamachi Nanoha of 2814

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 9: The Linker Cores War, Part 3: Reloading, Rearming, and Repairing that D*mn Broken Wall! or 'Breather Episode'

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story. If I did… well, this would all be canon. WARNING: MAY CAUSE HEAD EXPLOSION!

"I have always believed that writing advertisements is the second most profitable form of writing. The first, of course, is ransom notes." - Philip Dusenberry

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.

Will the transhumanist future have catgirls? Does Japan still exist? Well, there is your answer.

**Black Aeronaut Technologies Group**: Aerospace Solutions for the discerning spacer  
_"The difficult we do while you wait. For the impossible you'll need to schedule an appointment."_

"No Boom today, Boom tomorrow. There's _always_ a Boom tomorrow."

(your quote here)

...

The Headmaster looked solemnly at Negi, who was looking a bit stressed. Quite understandable. After that incident a couple of days ago, wherein his ability to do magic had somehow been damaged– Konoemon wasn't quite sure about the explanation, just that Negi couldn't use magic for several days or he might lose the ability forever. There had been aliens and spaceships in the story too– the boy had been antsy, clearly concerned about his ability to protect his students should something happen. Konoemon would have been insulted at the implication– to think that all the _other_ powerful mage teachers, mercenaries and swordsmen on campus couldn't do an adequate job of protecting the students!– but he knew how seriously Negi took ALL his duties. He clearly saw such an inability as a black mark against himself. Granted, _he_ was the only one who thought so, however. Maybe he should hold that workaholic intervention for Negi soon…

"Two things, Negi-sensei," the Headmaster said, "First, I'd like to warn you that a new student will be joining your class. She's a scholarship girl from the Wayne Foundation, an orphan, I'm afraid, so I know you'll be good to her. She was found some years ago participating in an underground martial arts tournament for the prize money, and was found to have no legal records. She'd been entered as 'Cassandra' by some fellow sympathetic martial artists, apparently because the joke was she could predict what moves they would make with seemingly prophetic clarity. The girl can barely speak, but can understand people well enough, and seems to be a voracious learner, though she still has trouble reading. It seems difficult for her to associate letters with words. Still, she does well enough that was granted an athletic scholarship to the school."

Negi nodded, taking this all in. A new student? Darn, just when he didn't have any magic on him! with his luck, this'll be just like those times with the Master, and Chachamaru-chan, and Chao-chan, and Zazie-chan! "Um, I understand, Headmaster. She'd coming today, I take it?"

The Headmaster nodded. Of course she was. Why wouldn't she?

"Be careful, Negi-sensei," the Headmaster warned, "This new girl is a mysterious transfer student with seemingly no past, a very strangely ominous name, backed by a foreign philanthropic foundation, and she's ending up in _your_ class. Watch her like a hawk! She's sure to be yet another mysterious student like Chao and Zazie or something!"

"Have you been reading deconstructive alternate-universe magical girl manga based on the token loli of a more adult-humored series again, Headmaster?" Negi said.

"Certainly not, my boy! Too old to keep the storylines straight! I read TvTropes, dattebayo!"

Negi sighed. Yup, the old man and Konoka were related, all right. "What was the other thing, Headmaster?"

"I'll need you to fill up this paperwork, Negi," The Headmaster said. "I'm terribly sorry, a gross and inexcusable on my part. I hope you understand. Terribly sorry."

"Headmaster?" Negi asked, blinking.

"To think it took me this long," the Headmaster continued, shaking his head. He looked Negi straight in the eye in all solemnity. "I'm sorry, Negi-chan, for only just finding out you were a girl."

Negi's cries of despair could be heard from clear across the lake.

...

Usagi, forbidden from going Sailor Moon, was happily at home reading manga.

Bliss.

...

Fate Testarossa was about to be subjected to one of the greatest evils ever conceived.

"Starting today, a new friend will be joining our class!" the teacher said, and you could hear the death sentence being passed. "She's from overseas, studying abroad. Fate-san, please come in."

Fate introduced herself. The class applauded the moe.

And then the interrogation began…

...

A depressed Negi Springfield stood before his students and longed wistfully for such simple worries as trying to find a way to beat Jack Rakan and Cosmo Entelechia. Ah, you never really know what you've had 'til it's gone, do you? That morning he'd opened his closet to find all his shirts had been replaced with creamy, yellowy or pinky blouses; his shoes had been stolen, but not to worry, because the thief had thoughtfully left him some Mary Janes with slightly raised heels; all his ties now came in bright, pastel colors, and the only reason his suit hadn't disappeared was that he slept with it under Asuna's mattress to flatten it out. To be more accurate, it was the only suit he had left. The rest had been replaced by ones of a more feminine or flamboyant cut, and were definitely women's slacks rather than men's trousers.

His roommates, darn it, had been no help at all!

So he'd come to class looking, well, _girly_ as all Barbie, and squirming quite uncomfortably at the cat-like grins of his class. Yes, even from Zazie, darn her. Asakura had long maxed out all her data cards and was resorting to actual film, of which she'd run through 13. Ayaka had a pad of gauze taped permanently to her nose now, she wouldn't stop dripping.

_I'm the Prince of Ostia and Vespertatia, _Negi reminded himself. _I'm a Magister Magi. I'm one of the winners of the 19__th__ Springfield Cup! I fought JACK "That Damn Guy Who You Can Stab With Swords All You Like And It Won't Do A Thing, Dammit!" RAKAN to a draw! I am acknowledged as a grown man! I am a master of Magia Erebea! I am this class's homeroom teacher! I am… standing here wearing little girl shoes, women's clothes and have been mistaken for a girl by a powerful super hero. _

He considered this all briefly.

_Daddy! Mommy! Help me!_

"Ehem," he said, with as much dignity as he could muster. Surprisingly, that was still a lot. "We have a new student joining us today class. She has a few eccentricities and is here on an athletic scholarship, so I expect you all to be nice."

"Eh? A new girl appearing in the class suddenly after a battle with the forces of evil?-!-?" Haruna cried. "Negi-chan, are you sure she isn't some evil magical girl come to infiltrate our social circle with the idea of dividing us from within? She _is_, isn't she? We need to call the United Magical Girl Association of Japan!"

"What _are_ you talking about, Haruna?" Ayaka said.

"She must be a superhero!" Asakura cried. "That's the only one we're still missing! She must be a mysterious superhero with a tragic past she's trying to atone for by constantly putting herself in danger for others due to her deeply hidden Freudian death-wish!"

"Wow! That's so cool!" the Narutaki twins said.

Negi sighed. "She's none of that, class! Really, the way you talk, you'd think life was some kind of shonen fighting series crossed over with a magical girl show mixed with those American comic books! She's just a perfectly normal girl. And now, I'm going to introduce her, and you're going to apologize, because she probably heard every word you said."

Negi went over to the door and opened it, ushering in a new girl. She looked Asian– an almost unique trait in this class!– and apparently felt awkward in her new Mahora uniform. A gym bag was slung over her shoulder, and a pair of glasses perched on her nose, the wide, circular kind that in a manga would have big swirls in front of it to conceal how sexy the wearer's eyes were. They had none of these, and instead one could see her eyes were a perfectly plain shade of brown, slightly slanted and narrowed slightly in nervousness and a hint of animalistic wariness.

She walked stiffly to the front of the class and bowed, clearly a few steps short of her fight or flight reflex.

Negi coughed. "Everyone, this is Cassandra Doe-san. Please take care of her, all right?"

"YES MA'M, NEGI-CHAN!"

Negi sighed. Yes, he really, really missed getting beat up by Rakan-san and Fate…

...

"Damn, Shamal, you work quick!" Vita said when the blonde knight reported she'd finished making the sample units of their new Jadeite Servants in the garage, although mass production would still take a while. Hayate was at school at the moment, so they had the house to themselves for now.

The four trooped over to the garage, and inspected the Servants critically.

"It… looks like me," Signum finally said, looking at one Shamal had called a 'Saber'. "Only… why is it blonde, Shamal?"

"Well, I made it, so I get to choose what it looks like," Shamal said primly, fluffing her own blonde hair.

"And… the short hair in a bun?"

"Your hair annoys me. I'm always afraid someone's suddenly going to grab it and throw you through a couple of buildings."

"And… the blue skirt with a petticoat?"

"Your barrier jacket is much too immodest!"

Signum sighed, just a little.

Vita was glaring at the Servant modeled after her. "Its rack is bigger than mine!"

"No it isn't, Vita," Shamal sighed.

"Is too! Where's the measuring tape?"

"Why," Zafira said, looking over the beast-like Avenger unit, "does this thing look like a Zoid Liger?"

Shamal's lip trembled. "Everyone's a critic!" she cried, bawling.

They all looked at the last prototype Servant in the garage, which looked like Shamal, only taller, thinner, bustier, better toned and had eyes that seemed to have been defaulted at 'sexy librarian' and made no comment.

Zafira diplomatically tried to break the silence. "You know, we should really clean up in here," he said, wiping his tail over the giant lump covered by a sheet of canvas they kept in the corner.

Shamal only cried harder.

...

"ALL RIGHT YOU POOZER! YOU'RE HERE BECAUSE YOU'RE **SCUM**! YOU'RE JUST FANCY ANATOMY TO PUT A RING ON! BUT I PROMISE YOU POOZER, BY THE TIME I GET DONE WITH YOU, YOU'D HAVE _EARNED_ THAT RING, AND CAN KICK THE ASS OF ANY POOZERS STUPID ENOUGH TO PUT UP A FIGHT YOU COME ACROSS! NOW, DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS POOZER?"

Yuuno forced himself to stop leaning back at the barrage. He raised a tentative hand. "Um, Nanoha?"

"WHAT IS IT, 2814.2?-!"

"What's a 'poozer'…?"

And thus began the day that had astronomers the world over wondering why the moon seemed to be coloring itself green, and Nanoha discovered that she had a taste for whipping people into shape.

Unchosen legions of future Lanterns and Mages shuddered at that moment, and didn't know why…

...

SLAP!

"OW!"

"No, Chrono-sweetums, that's _my_ orange juice. Get your own."

"Aw, Amy!"

"My orange juice, Chrono-lovebunny. _**MINE!**_"

...

"Clark! What is that enormous bruise on your chest?-!"

Some days, Clark _swore_ his mom had better x-ray vision that he did.

"It's nothing mom," he said.

"It's _not_ nothing dear, not if it hasn't gone away yet. Kara, get my first aid kit. Now, tell me what happened dear," Martha kept said relentlessly.

"_Mom_…!"

"_Clark_…!"

Kara and Jonathan exchanged fond looks and snickered.

Clark sighed. "A little girl hit me with a magic croquet mallet," he said, mumbling.

"_Clark Joseph Kent_, speak clearly and stop eating your words!"

Kara raised a hand to her mouth, her shoulders heaving.

"A little girl hit me with a magic croquet mallet," he repeated more clearly, flushing in embarrassment.

Kara began to choke. "I'm sorry Clark, I'm not sure I heard you right. Did you just say.–?"

"Yes, I did," he said through gritted teeth. "A little girl hit me with a magic croquet mallet."

He waited patiently as his family worked off their giggling fit.

"Oh, Batgirl's never going to believe this," Kara choked.

...

Amy frowned at the data of Raging Heart and Bardiche's diagnostic. These error codes didn't make sense! The component both were asking for…! And if anything Raging Heart was worse than Bardiche. Besides the component, it also wanted something that wasn't even on the catalogue! It was, instead, a diagram. And an incomplete diagram, if Amy was any judge. It looked like some kind of intermix chamber, but the proportions were all wrong, and even to her layman's eye she could see the thing was incomplete, perhaps lethally so. Although… if she turned her head sideways to the left, it kinda looked like an optical targeting system, but even this seemed wrong, since that was obviously an uncertainty compensator unit over on the left. And why would either need plasma emission regulator fuses?

And upside-down it more closely resembled some sort of material storage tank, meant to hold actual solid objects, except that couldn't be right, because then what would all the other stuff be for? Turning her head to the right just made it look like some sort of depraved cross between an explosion at a supply depot and the lovechild of something a glassblower with hiccups in the middle of a space/stime anomaly had made.

What on Mid-Childa had gotten _into_ Raging Heart?

The diagram was pretty big and… Amy blinked. Even as she watched, the diagram was changing shape, becoming compact, smoother and– if all the new fuses, regulators and buffers she could recognize was any indication– capable of handling exponentially more ridiculous amounts of energy. She watched it for about twenty seconds, shocked, and in that time, it improved by three generations, with an overall improvement in both power regulation and efficiency– again, only by what she could recognize, which wasn't much– by about 1500 percent.

The penny finally dropped.

"Chrono!" she cried. "Someone's hacking our communications systems and somehow reprogramming Raging Heart!"

They eventually shut down the hack by doing the equivalent of ripping out the DSL line. They'd tried to contact Nanoha, but without Raging Heart actually on her they didn't have a direct line of communication, and the frequency they'd been given for communicating with her ring wasn't responding properly, only giving out a recorded message of Nanoha saying she was busy and couldn't talk right then.

"Did she say where she was going?" Lindy said as the rest of the arrived crew to try and retrace the hack, or at least find out how they got in.

"She said she and Yuuno-kun were going to the planet's moon for training," Chrono said, sounding impressed despite himself.

Lindy blinked and looked out the window. "Ah! That's why it's a little green tonight…"

...

"WAH! FATE! CHRONO! SAVE ME! MOMMY!"

"Oh, stop whining Yuuno-kun! So you nearly get impaled, that's a normal hazard for a Green Lantern! If you can't handle a little light training, then you're not going to last long in this job!"

"I'M GOING TO DIE! I'M GOING TO DIE! I'M GOING TO DIE!

"Yuuno-kun, please, you're over reacting!."

"I'M GOING TO DIE! AND IT HASN'T EVEN BEEN FIVE YEARS YET! I'M GOING TO DIE A VIRGIN!-!-!-!"

"Hey, I'm going easy on you! Stop being ungrateful! Kilowog-sensei would have been much louder and called you names! And what's a virgin? Anyway, see if you can take this! _Ring construct: Starlight Breaker!_"

...

"Vita-chan! Psst! Vita-chan!"

Vita opened her eyes groggily, limbs groaning from being ripped from a perfectly good slumber. She told them to shut up, this was Hayate waking her up, and so no one else had any subsequent opinion that mattered. "Wazizit, Hayafe-shan?" she mumbled. Damned body was insisting its opinion be acknowledged.

Hayate's tense, embarrassed face stared at her from a few bare inches away. "I have to pee," the girl said, flushing.

Vita kicked off the blanket and scrambled out of bed with unseemly haste, suddenly feeling very energized. She briefly debated whether she should carry Hayate or put her on her wheelchair, and decided on the former. Getting her on and off the chair would take up precious seconds that could be used for providing Hayate with relief from her discomfort! The risk of getting… er, 'wet', was well within acceptable ranges!

She slid her arms under Hayate and lifted her up bridal style, and heaved as gently as she dared. Before her body realized the size to weight ratio was all wrong for this to work, she turned and dashed as fast as she dared to the bathroom as Hayate yelped and held on tight to her shoulders. The door gave her some trouble, but she finally managed to fumble it open, conscious with each passing moment that this was probably _highly_ uncomfortable to Hayate-chan and likely not helping her condition.

"Eek!" Hayate cried close to her ear, clutching her tighter.

Vita felt a chill run through her, and she tried to make up for time lost to the door, taking care not to bump Hayate's head or legs against anything and ending up taking them herself. The door to the bathroom, thankfully, was wide open. Vita ran in, nearly slipped from surprise at the cold tiles, and quickly lay Hayate on the seat, just before the size to weight ratio inconsistency caught up to her, and her limbs suddenly said doing this without any magic was impossible and on the Three Stooges end of the spectrum of comical.

Hayate stared at her with wide eyes as she panted. "Wah, Vita-chan!" Hayate said. "That was amazing!"

"Eh heh," Vita said, embarrassed. "Well, it was an emergency. Are you going to be okay?"

Hayate blushed again, squirming awkwardly in a way that Vita would absolutely deny she found cute. "Actually, I kinda need some help getting out of my pajamas… and my, um…"

Vita had never before noticed what an interesting pattern the plaster on the ceiling of the bathroom made as she tried to ignore the way Hayate shook under her hands, which were lifting the girl high enough so she could do this bit herself.

The trip back to bed was shorter, _now_ involving the wheelchair. It always made Vita guilty, seeing that thing. It always reminded her that, _no_, they _hadn't_ filled the Book of Darkness yet, and Hayate was slowly being eaten away from the inside. True, it was technically by her own consent, but still! What sort of person chooses to deliberately let something with 'Dark' in its name get it's mitts on them just to let some girls completely unrelated to them alive and well and able to live out their live as they pleased, with nothing in exchange?

In Mahora, Negi Springfield sneezed in his sleep, and Asuna sleepily rapped the top of her head and mumbled something about him getting snot on her breasts.

Vita sighed internally as she pushed Hayate back to their room. Hayate. _Hayate_ was that sort of person. To be so open, trusting, selfless, Compassionate, self-sacrificing to a fault… she was truly a rare breed.

Negi Springfield sneezed again, and again, Asuna hit him. Both slept on.

As she lifted Hayate back on their bed, Vita once more renewed her resolution. Whatever happened to her, she would see to it that Hayate would get the happiness and life she so richly deserved! Even if it cost her life and limb, no matter how denigrating the sacrifice, she would persevere!

Because Hayate… Hayate was _worth it!_

In their sleep, every member of Ala Alba, Ala Rubra, Evangeline, random demons, gladiators and bounty hunters who'd been beat up by him, Tsukuyomi, and pretty much anyone who spent three straight days with Negi Springfield and seen how he operates all sneezed.

"Vita-chan," Hayate said as Vita got back under the covers next to her.

"Hmm?" Vita said, snuggling her bunny.

"Is this what it's going to be like when I become fully paralyzed?" Hayate said, making the hairs stick out on the back of Vita's neck. "You need to carry me everywhere, help me onto the toilet, even clean up after me and move my jaw so I can eat?"

Vita shuddered. "Don't _say_ that, Hayate-chan!" she said fiercely. Crap, she was never going to get to sleep after all this! "It won't turn out that way! The doctors will find a way to help you, and you'll be all right and walking again! I swear it!"

Hayate smiled at the outburst. "Mou, you're so cute when you're worked up, Vita-chan!"

Vita went a nice shade of pink Barbie wouldn't have minded wearing.

Hayate sighed. "Still… not being able to move, completely helpless and unable to defend myself, needing someone else to clean every part of me, even my no-no parts, being completely vulnerable and at someone's mercy…helpless to protect myself if they chose to take advantage of me, using me as an object of pleasure, rubbing themselves on me as I'm unable to stop them… it doesn't seem too bad, if the one taking care of me is someone like you, Vita-chan…" She leaned forward and gave the knight a peck on the cheek, snuggled against her pillow and closed her eyes, breathing quickly turning to the even rhythm of sleep.

Vita, face now as red as her barrier jacket, lay very stiff, two very big thoughts banging around her head. Unfortunately, only one of them is fit for public viewing.

_DAMN IT! NOW I'LL NEVER GET BACK TO SLEEP!_

...

Superman turned as he heard the tread of someone behind him, only to relax again as he saw who it was, replacing it with a different kind of tension. "Batman? What are you doing in Metropolis? Is something wrong?"

For a moment, the Dark Knight Detective ("_He drives us BATS! BATS! BATS! He drives us BAAAATTTSSS!_") stared at him, head tilted to one side. Then he said, "A little girl with a magical croquet mallet? _Really?_" Lip-twitch.

Clark swore then and there Kara was cut off from all contact with Batgirl.

"Just wait 'til you someday wind up in Japan and end up getting the stuffing beat out of you by a high school girl with glasses!" Superman snapped as he turned away huffily and flew off.

Batman allowed himself a warm, fuzzy feeling before turning around. Let's see, beat up some criminals, put the fear of _HIM_ into them, then back to bed so he could make his flight to Japan in the morning…

Anyone else see where this is going?

...

"VITA! What's taking you so long in there?" Shamal cried, knocking on the door to the bathroom loudly. "Other people need to use it too!"

"Uh.. Ahh… IN A MINUTE!"

Shamal paused as she heard the response. "Hayate said something last night again?"

"Uh… oooh…"

"Take your time."

...

"Illya… wake up…"

"Hmm… oni-chan…"

Smooch! With Tongue!

"Illya…" Blush.

"Ah! Miyu! I'm sorry! Oh, this is getting very embarrassing, Miyu, you waking me every morning only for that to happen…!"

"These trials are sent to test us," Miyu said. _SCORE AGAIN TODAY! YAY!_

"Well, I'm still sorry. It must be very embarrassing for you and… Miyu, why are you waking up Kuro…?"

"Hmm… oni-chan…"

Smooch! With Lots Of Tongue! Practically Mouth Rape!

"AHH! KURO, GET OFF MIYU!"

"That's _exactly_ what I'm doing! You've _had_ your happy morning smoochy time with her, now it's _my_ turn! I need the prana, so stop interrupting!" Back To Business.

"AH! Kuro! Get your own loli-maid!"

Downstairs, pretending to ignore the ruckus, Illya's parents Kiritsugu and Iris, at home from yet another extended trip, were having breakfast and talking.

"So, did you hear they're having the War again?" Iris told her husband.

"_Already?_ Crap, does that mean we need to move out? _Please_ tell me the Matou's aren't going to be in on it again this time."

"No silly, we should be fine, although it might be a good idea to make sure those girls across the street don't get any stupid ideas of getting Illya involved."

"Speaking of girls, when exactly are you finally going to get around taking that sheath off Shiro-kun?"

Mumble mumble. "I'll get to it this weekend…"

"Dear! That's what you said TEN YEARS AGO!"

...

"Someone tried to hack Raging Heart?-!" an apoplectic Nanoha cried as her Lantern uniform suddenly wove itself around her in a burst of green light. Though Amy didn't remember there being so many sharp spikes on it. Or any at all, for that matter. And why did it look like biker leather? "Did you catch them? Who was it? Where are they?"

"Nanoha-chan, calm down!" Amy said. "It's all right, we were able to terminate the link-up. Though that means we're currently incommunicado right now, since it meant deactivating all long-range comms. Whoever it is, they're persistent and don't seem to sleep! I suspect a team."

"Can't we back-trace it?" Yuuno said, eyes looking slightly haunted, as if he'd gone hang-gliding over hell and found it populated with thousands of Nanohas, all insistent he learn something.

"We've been trying," Amy said, clearly frustrated. "Whoever it is, they're too good! They obliterate every trace they should leave behind, and even a couple they shouldn't know about."

"Maybe we can use our rings!" Nanoha said, and Yuuno whimpered slightly. She frowned at him "Yuuno-kun! What happened to making me proud?"

Yuuno's only response was something that sounded like "Meeple!" and collapsing onto the sofa.

Nanoha sighed. "Give me thirty seconds," she told Amy confidently. "I'll find them. NO ONE messes with Raging Heart when she's vulnerable!"

To her credit, Amy made no comment about Nanoha's ETA. Anyone who'd seen her dismantle a gigantic cross-dimensional Lost Logia vessel in the time it takes to open a can of soda and take two sips had soon stopped doubting her abilities.

"Readying transmission," Amy said after they'd gotten everything hooked up properly. It wasn't long before the hacker was once more in the system, evolving that insane component diagram into yet _another_ more advanced model. "They're in already! Go Nanoha!"

Chrono, Arf, Fate, Yuuno, Lindy and Amy all watched, waiting to see what Nanoha would do. How would the seemingly unlimited powers of the ring she commanded be deployed to deal with this situation?

"Ring-chan! Find this hacker's location! Now!" Nanoha ordered.

_"Yes, ma'm!"_

There was a beat.

"That's it?" Amy said, feeling let down.

"Kind of anti-climactic," Lindy agreed.

Nanoha shrugged. "It works."

_"Hacker found! Location ascertained! The hacker is in this room!"_

Everyone whirled, eyes darting to every nook and cranny. Arf opened a few cupboards, then look inside a vase, finding nothing.

Nanoha frowned. "Ring-chan, point them out!"

A big, green arrow appeared, pointing at Nanoha's left hand, at her middle finger.

It took a couple of seconds for realization to dawn.

"Ring-chan," Nanoha said, sound a bit hit between the eyes. "Are _YOU_ the one hacking Raging Heart?-!-?-!-?-!"

_"Yes ma'm. Though technically, I was not so much hacking the pink frilly phallic object as merely communicating with it via the TSAB's network."_

Nanoha blinked as everyone else in the room turned red. "What does phal– never mind. WHY, Ring-chan?"

_"The effeminate little uke and myself have been discussing a certain idea that seemed feasible to implement, and now seemed the perfect time to provide the misconstructed pink dildo with the necessary equipment and modifications, now that it has been over-ejaculated to the point of uselessness."_

Nanoha's eye narrowed as she ignored the words she didn't understand– which was a lot of it– and wondered if there was some kind of virus going on. Everyone else seemed to be developing a rather bad cough. "What_ kind_ of modifications…?"

Ring-chan told her.

Her grin was measured at over 1,971,676 **Kilonazis**.

...

"Tsk-tsk, Wilson-sensei, what exactly were you thinking when you considered 'shoot me, I'm standing right here!' orange as a color to consider for your uniform? Did you just finish watching a Naruto-marathon or something?"

"… no comment."

Sigh. "Raise your arms please, these measurements are important… hmm, let's try the navy blue. That's acceptable?"

"Nothing wrong with the navy."

"Excellent. And perhaps a helmet instead? Solid protection against blows is always good…"

Years in the future, the Teen Titans would be _PISSED_ at Tomoyo for upgrading Slade's clothes. If anyone ever found out it was her, that is. No one did.

...

The girl now called 'Cassandra', who was now finally starting to think of herself as Cassandra, wondered why exactly her class seemed to enjoy hurting their teacher, and why he put up with it. it was all very easy to see, though she'd finally given up on actually explaining it to people because they just didn't have short enough words for such concepts as 'the muscle twitch caused by the internal organ compression caused by the toe moving because they're worried', as opposed to 'the muscle twitch caused by the internal organ compression caused by the toe moving because they're hungry'.

Making sounds was a stupid way to tell someone anything. She wondered why everyone else on the planet seemed to put up with it.

Though it was nice to see that some people here spoke her language in some way other than 'screaming loudly for the hell of it', to use the making sounds for it. Tall-dark-girl-who-can-listen-really-well, short-bright-empty-but-not-quite-girl-who-wanted-to-attack-teacher-but-not-kill-him, both of them said little, but it all meant a lot, like the way short-bright-empty-but-not-quite-girl-who-wanted-to-attack-teacher-but-not-kill-him had said she didn't care much for Cassandra but really had nothing against her, so she can share her desk without short-bright-empty-but-not-quite-girl-who-wanted-to-attack-teacher-but-not-kill-him deciding to Make Her Nothing.

She shook her head, causing some odd looks, especially from short-bright-empty-but-not-quite-girl-who-wanted-to-attack-teacher-but-not-kill-him– _Evangeline!_ a newer, word-using part of her said. _And it called 'words', not 'make sounds'!– _and silent-but-not-empty-doll– _Chachamaru! She has name, like you! Use of name, show 'respect to others'!–_ but otherwise it passed unnoticed.

She sighed, and tried to concentrate on the 'words' 'Negi-sensei'– _what point of extra words?_– was actually making, rather than how he was saying he was tired and worried and hurt and embarrassed and– Cassandra shook her head again and tried to concentrate.

She longed for class to finish so she could talk to– she thought the next part deliberately– 'Ku Fei'. She seemed to be a very good talker. Maybe she'd teach Cassandra how to say new things? She hoped so…

...

_**GREEN MOON! SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE?**_

_Last night's strange green moon was caused an uproar…_

...

**- To be continued...**

...

A/N: and we're back to short crack, just a little bit. Well, meant as short crack, but it got away from me. Might have to take a little break while I watch more of A's.

As promised, now with added Hayate! Though admittedly it was mostly Vita.

I seem to be good at getting into the minds of characters that think differently. Huh. Who would have thought. Now, I'm off to see how I can hold a Holy Grail War that'll end up leaving behind TWO Sabers. Playing _very_ fast and loose with Fate canon to try and pull this off…

Please review, C&C welcome. Soon to come: another Holy Grail War? Sailor Supergirl? The Daughter of Cain, agent of TSAB? Bat!Servant? For those looking for a Nanoha crossover with the _proper_ Fate/Stay Night rather than with Prisma Illya… well, I find pandering to people really helps with my trying to achieve No.1 Net Idol Status. Me and Chisame!

...

**SOME TIME TO COME…**

...

The girl blinked as she saw who had stepped in between of her and the red-clad girl with the hammer. "Doe?-! Get out of here, brat! You'll get killed! Call Chachamaru!"

Cassandra Doe merely smiled that more-infuriating-that-Zazie's smile, and waved a hand in a somehow both negligent and reassuring manner. She turned to the attacker and made a gesture that usually accompanied the words, "Come on if you think you've got the balls, B17(#!"

Vita growled and charged, Graf Eisen whirling.

Five minutes later, she was thrown out the front door, bounced twice on the stairs on the way out, and landed on her head next to the mailbox, eyes all goggly and whirling. Seconds later, her hat followed, landing on her upturned ass.

The other girl looked at Cassandra, who mimed making a gun and blowing the smoke off it before sticking it into a holster. "…damn girl."

...

**END!**

...

BTW, did anyone ever write that GL/StikerS crossover Skyefire suggested?

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	10. Tomoyo Will Killz You, Suxorz!

A/N: For my next sanity-defying trick, I will cross this over with Animorphs, Wheel of Time, the Dresden Files, The Secret World of Alex Mack, and The Last Unicorn!

Of course it's neat. That's why I do it. Hi again to:** Jorlem, Drakensis, Paladindythe, yesilmavi, Rob Kelk, Florin, Stephen Mann, Foxboy, Necratoid,** **LilFluff, Bob Schroeck, sweno,** **blackaeronaut, Acyl, Manytales00, nocarename, Timote**. May **Epsilon** soon stop having to avoid spoilers. Sorry **b**! Totally my fault, big mistake, hope you forgive! Yes, Manytalees, totally agree! :p My next frontier to conquer: SPACEBATTLESdotCOM!

Wrote a side-story of this in my profile, _**We Are The Gate Keepers**_. Without access to even a _summary_ of _**GateKeepers 1985**_, I'm winging it. Slight timeline mismatch, but I can deal with it…

And now, a very special chapter devoted to the most terrifying person in this universe. No, not Parallax, or even Batman. Did you happen to look at the chap title?

...

Takamachi Nanoha of 2814

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 10: The Linker Cores War, Part 4: BEWARE HER POWER, TOMOYO'S MIGHT! Or 'Tomoyo Will Killz You, Suxorz!'

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story. If I did… well, this would all be canon. WARNING: MAY CAUSE HEAD EXPLOSION!

"I have always believed that writing advertisements is the second most profitable form of writing. The first, of course, is ransom notes." - Philip Dusenberry

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.

Will the transhumanist future have catgirls? Does Japan still exist? Well, there is your answer.

**Black Aeronaut Technologies Group**: Aerospace Solutions for the discerning spacer  
_"The difficult we do while you wait. For the impossible you'll need to schedule an appointment."_

"No Boom today, Boom tomorrow. There's _always_ a Boom tomorrow."

''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''  
- James Nicoll

_"Read Or Die: not so much a title as a way of life." __  
__- Justin Palmer, 6 June 2007_

"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"  
TF2: Spy

Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea.

(your quote here)

...

Superman twitched for some reason, and had no idea why. Though it felt like someone a few universes away was talking about him being beaned by a girl with a magic croquet mallet. And why did he suddenly feel an urge to own a giant robot…?

...

Kinomoto Sakura was having a perfectly average day. Get up, get dressed, get pissed off at her big brother for teasing her, meet with Tomoyo and Lee on the way to school, say hi to the nice tall gray-haired man with the eye-patch and trench-coat who Tomoyo seems to know just standing around, say hi to the _other _nice tall man with the eye-patch and trench-coat who Tomoyo seems to know just standing around, say hi to the nice tall gray-haired man without the eye-patch and trench-coat who Tomoyo seems to know just standing around, say hi to the nice tall dark-skinned and –haired lady in the white coat who Tomoyo seems to know just standing around, go to school, head home, get trapped by unknown magical forces…

Wait, that wasn't right.

Sakura froze as the strange feeling of the magic washed over her, one hand reaching up to clutch at her key. Lee had taken a step back, eyes darting from side to side as she called for his sword, heedless of any possible witnesses. And then she felt _them_.

"_Oh no_…" Sakura said, paling in fear. "They're here… but why–"

That was all she had time to think before Lee suddenly tackled her to the side, causing her to hit a wall. The boy sorcerer had his sword up in a guard position as a large metallic ball streaked towards him…

Tomoyo let the gym bag she was carrying fall off her shoulder as she dropped and swept Lee's legs out from under him with a spinning kick, and he fell to the ground hard, the metal ball streaking mere feet in front of his nose, right where he'd been nano-seconds before. His back and head throbbed from being dropped like that and he glared at Tomoyo, who smiled her saintly, mysterious smile ©. She was suddenly holding an energy pistol in her hands, her Lex-Blaster 500. "Please be more careful with Sakura-chan in future, Lee-kun," she said, then turned to Sakura, and swore. Her gun snapped up immediately, pointing at Lee's head. "She's $%^#%^&*^$!&W$&#$ unconscious, moron! I should shoot you right now."

"Hey, that wasn't on the Lex-Blaster 500 list we talked about," Lee said, wondering if he could cut off her hand before she pulled the trigger.

"Lists get updated."

"And until they are, it doesn't count."

Tomoyo glared at him and reluctantly lowered her gun.

Lee kipped himself upright as Tomoyo turned in the direction the ball had come from, a second blaster now in her other hand, both unwavering. "You know, you should let Kinimoto see this side of you," he mentioned casually as he drew his ofuda. "She'd be all 'Squee!, Tomoyo-chan is so cool!'"

"No one is cooler than Sakura-chan," Tomoyo said, smiling grimly. "To say otherwise is blasphemy."

"What, Sakura-worship is a religion now?"

Tomoyo just smiled.

"You have it registered as an actual religion, don't you, Daidouji."

"The world must be informed of the radiant beauty that is Sakura-chan!"

Not for the first time, Syaoran wondered if it would so bad not to follow his heart and marry his cousin.

The two tensed as a red-clad figure approached them, a croquet mallet in hand, followed by two others, a pink-haired woman and a man in blue. "Someone you know, Daidouji?" Lee asked. "It looks like she raided your Sakura Closet."

Tomoyo sniffed. "Red that deep is much too unflattering a shade for Sakura-chan."

"Sakura-con," Lee muttered.

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"Hey! Who are you two supposed to be?-!" Vita cried as she saw them standing over the downed form of Sakura. Shamal had identified the girl as being powerful, but with seemingly no long-range attack capability, and a complete novice in battle, psychologically speaking, though her unarmed combat skills had been top tier. Given than she'd been slightly apart from the others who had arrived so suddenly to back up that Green Lantern girl, they'd chosen to harvest her first, on the strength of her being unlikely to have backup.

Tomoyo's eloquent response was to shoot the girl in the head with both blasters.

Vita barely managed to raise a generic shield in time to keep her hat, and by extension, her head, from being perforated. "The hell?-!" she cried. It wasn't that she hadn't been expecting some kind of response, it was that she hadn't been expecting that response to come from someone who was obviously a non-mage.

"For the foul heresy of attempting to harm the gloriousness that is the great and beautiful Sakura-chan," Tomoyo said breezily, her saintly, mysterious smile © never leaving her face, "I levy the judgment of the church upon you, strangers. By Sakura-chan's boundless mercy and generosity, I give you one final chance to turn away from this evil path you tread and embrace the light of goodness that is Sakura-chan! Bow down to her divine beauty, and you will be forgiven this heinous atrocity, for all things are loved in the nice, soft, squishy, developing bosom of Sakura-chan's infinite heart. Persist, however, and there is no place you can hide from my Vengeance, no hole too deep, no shadow so dark that I cannot find you to exact a thousand times over the harm you would wrought upon this most blessed Sakura-chan! Persist and know that from this day forth the Specter of death hangs above you, and that nothing will spare you from my most unholy Wrath."

Lee let his face fall into the palm of his hand and resisted the urge to bang his head into the nearest wall. It was all right. The three attackers looked like they were in the same quandary.

The pink-haired one recovered first, drawing her own sword and making Lee tense. "Those terms are acceptable."

Tomoyo frowned at this. "Oh, you really _are_ new, aren't you? That is the wrong response for such a threat. 'Those terms are acceptable' and its permutations are for when you are heavily outnumbered by superior numbers and firepower. It is meant as an act of _defiance_. You are using it in the wrong context. In this instance, the traditional response is one of amused derision or contempt, something along the lines of 'you and what army?'. It might be trite, but if you are going to be attacking people on this planet, you must learn that there are traditions and conventions to be followed. Otherwise you are just being rude."

Lee had though nothing else Tomoyo could have possibly said could be any more ridiculous than her last threat. He had been wrong.

The dog-eared man with the attackers had one eyebrow raised at full extension, and the pink-haired one was giving Tomoyo that long, level look you reserved for lunatics. The one in red's mouth was dropped open so wide it was practically scrapping the ground.

"And so, I say again unto you: for the foul heresy of attempting to harm the gloriousness that is the great and beautiful Sakura-chan," Tomoyo repeated, still wearing her saintly, mysterious smile ©, "I levy the judgment of the church upon you, strangers. By Sakura-chan's boundless mercy and generosity, I give you one final chance to turn away from this evil path you tread and embrace the light of goodness that is Sakura-chan! Bow down to her divine beauty, and you will be forgiven this heinous atrocity, for all things are loved in the nice, soft, squishy, developing bosom of Sakura-chan's infinite heart. Persist, however, and there is no place you can hide from my Vengeance, no hole too deep, no shadow so dark that I cannot find you to exact a thousand times over the harm you would wrought upon this most blessed Sakura-chan! Persist and know that from this day forth the Specter of death hangs above you, and that nothing will spare you from my most unholy Wrath."

Lee looked longingly at the point of his sword.

"YEAH? You and what army, bitch?-!" Vita cried.

Tomoyo smiled and nodded in approval. "And now for my variation of the traditional response: the one surrounding all of you right now. All points, this is Ravager: lethal force enabled."

Lee had just enough time to realize she was talking to someone else when all hell broke loose.

From her vantage point on the roof three houses behind the attackers, Tatsumiya Mana let loose from her rifle, barrier-breaking mage-killer rounds flying with extreme accuracy. From a similar position Behind Tomoyo, David Cain and Deadshot both let loose. Tomoyo's blasters screamed as she shot, lancing forward at velocities faster than mere bullets. From somewhere else was the chainsaw-like sound of a heavy machine-gun of some kind.

Lee threw himself on top of Sakura, putting his body between her and what bullets there were.

Normal people would have been turned into ground meat by this. Most metahumans and magical girls would have been in dire straights in the first five seconds, and dead at fifteen. Even Superman and Green Lantern might have been heavily inconvenienced and possibly even injured, due to the fact Tomoyo had used Mana's contacts to provide all her employees with mage Black Market magical ammunition.

The Wolkenritter, however, knew how to deal with this.

Zafira raised his generic defensive field as Via and Signum cast Panzers Geist and Hindernis, the three quickly moving to block from all directions. Despite the barrier-piercing abilities of Mana's procured bullets, they had been designed and empowered to overcome the abilities of an average mage operative. The Knights' barriers, compared to them, was by default set on 'Overkill'.

There was a blast of exhaust and various loading sounds as a cartridge was expended from Laevatein. "_Schlangenform,_" it said. Flames danced between the links.

"_Hiryuu Issen,_" Signum said, snapping the attack in Mana's direction, completely destroying the house she was on. Thank goodness they were inside a barrier, and thus out of phase with real space, else some family would have been in for an unpleasant surprise.

Similarly, Vita sent her Schwalbe Fliegen careening towards the other sources of fire. At least, that was her intention. Tomoyo shot them out of the air with negligent ease, resuming her own bombardment as if there had been no interruption. Vita growled in frustration, and Signum turned to Tomoyo, the tip of her sword suddenly snapping forward. Three shots from Tomoyo's blaster hit it before she realized it had no effect, her feet already trying to move her out of the way well before her conscious realization of this fact.

Lee's sword swept up in an arc, catching the whip-like blade, a deft twist of his wrist, wrapping a loop of it around the sword he held. "_Raitei Shourai!_"

Electricity crackled down the length of both swords, causing Signum to withdraw her weapon even as Vita managed to send her metal balls flying towards the other shooting positions and causing explosions now that Tomoyo couldn't instantly shoot her projectiles. There had been flashes as the shooters attempted to shoot them down themselves, to no avail.

In the brief lull, the Wolkenritter charged, closing in to try and use their proximity to Tomoyo as a means of discouraging further fire.

Lee met them head on, his blade clashing with Signum's as they met, metal ringing on metal. Vita and Zafira charged around them while Signum kept Lee pinned, charging towards the unconscious Sakura.

Tomoyo hesitated briefly before sighing in frustration as she dropped her guns, kneeling down as she quickly leaned over her dropped gym bag, from where she'd pulled her blasters, and pulled out some of the other items inside.

"_Shinmei-ryu Ken Jutsu,_" Tomoyo intoned as she drew the sheaths of her katana and kodachi. "_Raimeiken!"_

Vita had _not_ been expecting to be hit by lightning that day.

Zafira barely avoided Tomoyos blades before the girl moved to engage Vita fully, the red Knight cursing a storm at the unfairness of it all. He was close, so close. The gunmen had apparently not been able to get into position yet, so all he had to do was retrieve the girl…

A woman suddenly jumped over the wall behind their target, landing between him and the girl. Asian, her expression was arrogance and contempt as she barred his way. Zafira threw a punch at her and–

What was he doing upside down and covered with bricks?

"Know what honor you find bestowed upon you, creature," a woman's voice said as someone– _her_– came into his view upside down. "I am Shiva, become death, the destroyer of worlds, and I shall kill you."

This was turning into a very bad day.

...

Signum felt she was getting the upper hand when she suddenly felt a presence behind her, and drew Laevatein's sheath in time to counter the completely silent blow of the man who had just appeared. He was dressed in bifurcated dark and orange and navy blue, and his helmet only had one eye-hole.

The man moved silently, quickly and efficiently, moves ruthless and intended to kill. Signum should have died in the first five seconds of his arrival.

Thank goodness for barrier jackets.

The blade bounced off harmlessly, not penetrating, but it still threw Signum off balance as he used the contact to _push_ her, nearly putting her in the way of the boy's blade, which hummed with power and could probably cut through her barrier jacket eventually.

The boy suddenly stepping back and to the side was all the warning she had before someone tried to shoot the back of her head. Her head snapped forward as her barrier jacket's nonphysical protective field took the blow, and her head rung like a bell.

"_Fuuka Shourai!_" the boy cried as a blast of wind sent Signum slamming into and through a nearby wall. Several, actually.

Panting, Syaoran whirled, sword-point aiming for the back of Tomoyo's opponent wearing the almost-certainly-Tomoyo-Original-Production-in-Red, who barely managed to side-step it. Tomoyo parried his blade away from her with dainty grace, before leaping back herself as Vita finally managed enough leverage to swing Graf Eisen properly, blowing crater into the ground. The knight spun again, her hammer heading for Syaoran, who brought his blade up to guard and nearly had his arms ripped off their sockets at the impact. He darted to the side, trying to keep himself from being trapped by the way, moving next to Tomoyo.

Tomoyo moved to attack, but the girl was getting her rhythm now, hammer swinging in wide, pulverizing arcs, her footwork insuring that Tomoyo, and more precisely Tomoyo's _head_, stayed well within striking range, and not inside it. Walls were being demolished without so much as slowing the hammer down, and Vita was screaming something _highly_ uncomplimentary about crazy earth people and why every third person on the planet seemed to have anti-mage attack capabilities, and were the TSAB on _**CRACK**_ when they said Earth produced few mages of any level of power?

Signum was down for the moment, Zafira seemed to be getting his ass handed to him by some woman who wasn't even using magic, and Vita was find herself surrounded by the boy with the sword, the man with the sword, the crazy girl with the swords, _plural_, the dark-skinned woman with the guns who was trying to shoot Vita and barely being helf off by Graf Eisen's haft and her own generic red shields, and oh look, two other men had decided to show up, doubtless the gunmen from before, given one seemed to have guns strapped to his forearms and the other was carrying what Vita could vaguely identify as the kind of gun you needed if you wanted to cut down small trees. .

Vita, for a moment, seriously considered taking Hayate off-planet and trying to convince her Earth had all just been a bad dream. It certainly felt like it to her. Seriously, letting their master live in this madhouse couldn't possibly be good for her mental health.

She was barely able to keep from braining Zafira as the woman he was fighting somehow made him throw _himself_ into her area of attack, nearly breaking her rhythm as he lay there, trying to get his sense of direction back. "Zafira?" she called out, not stopping lest he invite another attack.

"Did anyone get the number of the giant robot?" Zafira slurred. "I think it was a Gundam…"

Lee blinked, keeping the enemies and the unconscious Sakura within his peripheral vision as he looked at the older woman next to him. "Cassandra?"

She lightly rapped him on the head. "I'm on the job, dear cousin. That's Lady Shiva, to you."

Syaoran thought a minute. "Daidouji?" he guessed.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that," she said, face perfectly straight.

He shivered. "That girl is scary," he said.

"Amen," Deathstroke, David Cain, Deadshot, Mana and Shiva all chorused.

Tomoyo sniffed. "You're all over-reacting. I am merely doing what any rich, intelligent, driven personality would do."

"Then why don't you try channeling Bill Gates instead of Lex Luthor?" Lee said, readying another ofuda.

"Both are so uninspired," Tomoyo said, sounding miffed and vaguely insulted. "The latter spends too much time and money pursuing an obviously homoerotic obsession with someone beyond the limits of humanity, attempting to bring them down to their level of vulgarity."

Lee made a point of quite obviously looking at Sakura, and being attacked be damned. Tomoyo gave him a level look. Everyone else quite obviously took a step away from this madman who would bait Tomoyo so obviously.

This was all the repartee they had time for as Laevatein's _Schlangenform_ whipped suddenly around a corner, darting for Sakura. Tomoyo lunged, trying to parry the blade away, but it moved like the snake for which it was named, darting around her. Lee, with his thicker blade, managed to loop it around the whipping sword again.

It tightened around it like it hadn't before, and Lee suddenly found himself pulled off his feet and dragged along the ground and around the corner. There was a meaty sound of impact, and then a hastily cut off scream.

Tomoyo threw out a hand as some readied to attack again. "No one move," she said. "The contract was to protect Sakura-chan. Lee-kun wasn't part of it. He's a big boy. And I heard this wasn't fatal."

Shiva shrugged negligently. Since her sister, she had never really been one to play at happy families.

Lee's unconscious form was thrown to the ground into view a few moments alter, his sword clattering next to him as the pink-haired woman stepped into view, sword in hand, an open book in the other.

"Twenty-five pages," Signum said. "An unexpectedly pleasant return for this inconvenience. Though I believe the girl would yield higher, this is a sufficient harvest for now."

"I would advise that you do not try to target Sakura-chan again," Tomoyo said easily, "The heavy munitions I ordered were to arrive this evening. While I believe your magical barriers are capable to a great degree of protection, I doubt they can stand up against a tactical atomic bullet. Or several, for that matter."

The man whistled appreciatively at this. Mana rolled her eyes. "Boys. Always needing the bigger bullet."

Signum tilted her head, then raised her sword in salute. "Vita, Zafira. Disengage and withdraw. That Green Lantern girl is coming."

"Green light in the sky, five o' clock," David Cain confirmed.

Tomoyo had an 'after you' sort of gesture. "If you come after her again, I will kill you then. As it is, you have not really harmed Sakura-chan, so I suppose some leniency is in order. But if you are still here in five seconds, we resume."

Signum nodded, and the three left, the two supporting a still slightly dizzy Zafira and Vita alternately muttering a screaming obscenities about crazy earth girls. The sky changed slightly, and Tomoyo supposed that the 'barrier' they'd raised had collapsed.

Tomoyo knelt down to re-sheath her blades and put her guns back in her gym back. "Everyone, please make yourself scarce for the moment. I would rather not explain your presence to Green Lantern-chan."

They all nodded professionally as they suddenly as dispersed. Tomoyo moved towards Lee and casually threw his sword into her bag– it barely fit– before dragging him over next to Sakura. "Well," she said quietly to herself as she looked over the unconscious boy, "It looks like he wouldn't be _too_ inadequate a protector for Sakura-chan." Quickly staining her clothes and face with dirt, Tomoyo got into character.

When Green Lantern arrived, having detected the dimensional distortion, a tearful Tomoyo greeted her as she cradled Lee's unconscious body. "Green Lantern-chan!" she nearly wailed. "Oh, thank goodness! It was horrible! A group attacked Sakura-chan and I on our way back from school, but Lee-kun protected us, but they did something to him, and now… PLEASE, help him Green Lantern-chan! Please help my friend!"

"Everything's going to be all right, Tomoyo-san!" Green Lantern said reassuringly, raising her ring to talk to it. "Ring-chan, run a full medical scan on these two. Connect me to the TSAB. Hello, Amy? There's been another attack, an attempt on one of the girls who came to rescue me…"

Lee was quickly airlifted out of the area by a determined Green Lantern, while Tomoyo reassured her that she'd take care of getting the more conventionally unconscious Sakura aid. She cried until Green Lantern was out of sight. Then she casually began to dab away at the tears with her handkerchief, cleaning her face, her expression once more back to its usual saintly mysteriousness ©.

"Scary, girl," Deathstroke said as the mercenaries all came out of hiding again.

"Oh, Wilson-sensei," Tomoyo chided familiarly as she drew her cellphone. "Hello, Tenten-san? Please bring the car around to my location, and bring the first aid kit and an ice pack. Five minutes. Good."

Terminating the call, she slung the gym bag over her shoulder before regarding Sakura critically. She knelt down and gently lifted the girl bridal style. "Tatsumiya-sensei, if you would please stay with me? The rest take positions around Sakura-chan's house. They might be laying a trap."

They nodded, moving out of view as the two women waited for Tomoyo's ride.

...

Tomoyo managed to get Sakura bandaged up and her swelling down by the time they rolled to a stop in front of the Kinomoto house. She'd been extremely worried about Lee– bless her boundless heart within its nicely developing, soft and squishy bosom!– but had been mollified when Tomoyo said Green Lantern had taken him to be treated by those space-wizards.

Daidouji Tomoyo had a perfectly average evening. Go home, see that the shipment of highly illegal extremely powerful weaponry was properly distributed to her assets, go over her properties, do her homework, have dinner, take a long, soapy shower while thinking of Sakura-chan and her, and maybe a little Lee thrown in, go over her papers for tomorrow's meeting in her bathrobe, head for her room to finally get some rest…

Tomoyo sighed at the lack of noise behind her as she pulled off her dressing gown, leaving only her shift. "Really, Batman, we have to stop meeting like this. Do your little boys know how regularly you sneak into the rooms of half-naked little girls?"

He didn't appear out of the darkness so much as manifest from it, soulless white eyes glaring at her from his mask. "You've been warned, Daidouji," he said. "Hiring international assassins and mercenaries? All to protect some girl? What's this really about?"

"I salute you inadequate grasp of the obvious, Dark Knight," she said, turning to face him and completely unmindful of the fact that the shear fabric of what she was wearing hid absolutely nothing. "I do not see what business is if of yours that I have recently hired the services of some of my old teachers, but they are commissioned purely in a defensive capacity. I'm sure the city will soon be getting Green Lantern-chan's report on what happened. She's quite prompt with filling her paperwork."

"And the heavy weaponry?" he asked sarcastically.

"Clearly there has been some sort of addressing mistake," Tomoyo said, smiling innocently. Lex Luthor would kill for that smile. She took a pose of maidenly virtue. "How could a mere child possibly acquire such things? And to what purpose? Clearly, someone is having a cruel jape at my expense. Oh, what is a poor, lonely heiress to do?"

But he was gone.

"Inconsiderate man," she said, shaking her head. "He could have at least closed the window on his way out."

Yawning, she picked up her katana and made her way out of the room to the guestroom next door, knocking on the door quite loudly before entering. She batted away the knives streaking toward her casually as she closed the door behind her. "Good evening, Tsukuyomi-sensei. I'm sorry I could talk to you earlier, but I had to wait out an inevitable visitor."

Tsukuyomi smiled. "Did you slice him up real good?" Tsukuyomi asked, giggling slightly as she twirled her short sword.

"Alas, I had to think of the carpet, sensei," Tomoyo said, smiling.

"Tomoyo-chan! Have I taught you nothing?"

"Alas, my deepest apologies, sensei. I will try to do better next time."

The two exchanged smiles and Tsukuyomi began to laugh, eyes turning to gold on black. "Well, see to it, Tomoyo-chan. And how was your little flower today? I do _so _wish to meet her myself, if she is as wonderful as you always say. She must be _very_ pretty."

"Touch her, and I will end you, sensei," Tomoyo said, her smile never wavering even as one of her own eyes turned into gold on black. "None may taste of Sakura-chan's sweetness be they unworthy."

"Ah, so much like me you are, Tomoyo-chan," Tsukuyomi sighed as their eyes returned to normal. "I can tell you think so much of your little flower. Just like I do with _my_ own Setsuna-sempai… Ah, Setsuna-sempai!"

"Ah, Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo agreed.

Their girlish giggling echoed in the night. Stars died.

...

**- To be continued...**

...

A/N: was very tempted to make Syaoran's sword an Intelligent Device passed down the Lee Clan since Clow Reed, but stopped myself. Barely. No, this isn't a badly written battle at all. After all… It's Daidouji _GODDAMNED_ _**TOMOYO**_!

Anyway, this happens during the time the intelligent devices are getting upgraded. The knights decided not to waste any time since they already had viable targets. Pity they chose the wrong one to start with…

Tactical Atomic Bullet: a weapon from the GOOD JLA series before the crisis of infinite retcons. Basically a mini-nuke that leaves no fallout, making it 'clean'. I've always like the sound of it. And is anyone else sad that the GOOD Justice League series right now is 'Generation Lost' rather than the main one? Seriously, magic gorilla and blue Starman? WTF? I love how Booster's team seems to be headed away from being the in-universe joke Justice League. As lame as people say Detroit was, International gets more flack.

...

**Omake: Rich People**

...

Tomoyo sat down primly at the table, facing the man in front of her. "Really Mr. Wayne, we have to stop meeting like this. One might start inappropriate rumors about us. Soon I might find you in my room as I'm getting dressed."

Tomoyo giggled pleasantly as Bruce Wayne's business-like but slightly foppish smiled turned a shade sickly, while Tim Drake looked between the two of them in confusion…

...

_**SUPER TOP-SECRET! DAIDOUJI TOMOYO'S BINGO BOOK ENTRY!**_

...

**Full Name:** Daidouji Tomoyo

**Known Aliases**: Little Purple Ravager, Li'l Missy, Scary Girl, Pope of the First Church of Sakura, Harm, The Unholy Terror

**Alignment:** Lawful Evil

**ECL: **666

**Religion:** Sakuraism. Church founder.

**Family:** Daidouji Sonomi (Mother), Kinimoto Sakura, Kinimoto Touya (Second Cousins?)

**Affiliations: **on the Board of Directors of the Daidouji Toy Corporation, as well as being a major stockholder in several companies such as Lexcorp, Wayne Enterprises, S.T.A.R. Labs, etc. Has a contract as an unspecified design consultant for Big Science Action. A member of the Japanese Olympic Pistol Shooting Team.

**Background:** the only daughter of Daidouji Sonomi by an unknown father– all attempts to ascertain the identity of her male progenitor, or even if she _had_ a male progenitor, has led to failure– Tomoyo Daidouji was initially home-schooled because of her mother's not-unfounded worries that she would become the target of kidnapping. At the time, Sonomi still did not have a controlling interest in the company that would later bear her name, and some of her rivals were rumored to have criminal connections. At an early age, she was educated in self-defense by several hand-picked individuals, among them Maj. Slade Wilson, David Cain, Tatsumiya Mana, Floyd Lawton, Lara Croft, Cassandra Wu-san, Aoyama Tsuruko, with several others undocumented. It is know she is a practitioner of Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū, also more commonly known as Anything Goes Martial Arts. It is unknown where she learned this or who taught it to her, although it is possible she is the style's originator. Daidouji Tomoyo is often accompanied by a retinue of bodyguards who have been identified as practitioners of the Hidden Leaf style of Ninja Arts.

Her first attempted kidnapping was during a school fieldtrip, after her mother decided to finally place her in public education. She was kidnapped under the cover of a fire alarm, though she was later found unharmed. Her kidnapper had apparently had an accident, breaking his wrist and causing his firearm to inadvertently discharge into his head. Five times. All between his eyes.

She is on several international watch lists for her purchase of several high-powered explosive munitions. Ostensibly, this is because her mother developed a taste for explosive rocket fire during her own self-defense training and these munitions were intended as a birthday gift, but this does not explain her personal purchase of thousand smoke detectors.

She is often seen in the company of the girl identified as Kinomoto Sakura, who is possibly her second cousin. The girl has been identified as a high-level metahuman of possibly magical origin. All attempts to retrieve this girl, however, have led to several tragic accidents wherein the entire operation accidentally broke their wrists, causing their firearms to accidentally discharge into their heads. Five times. All between the eyes. Since the 36th incident, a moratorium has been placed on all attempts.

Some charges have been levied against her for questionably pornographic lolicon videos she has posted online, to no conclusive end.

...

**If You Have Read This, Then She's Not Only Standing **_**Right**_** Behind You, She's Already Pulled The Trigger To Kill You…**

...

BANG!

See, she shot you. Here's a White Ring, and a Phoenix Down just in case. Please wipe your brains off the floor yourself.

Please review, C&C welcome.

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	11. Vita's Ero–Ero Adventures!

A/N: Hi again to:** Jorlem, Drakensis, Paladindythe, yesilmavi, Rob Kelk, Florin, Stephen Mann, Foxboy, Necratoid,** **LilFluff, Bob Schroeck, sweno,** **blackaeronaut, Acyl, Manytales00, nocarename, Timote, werehawk**.

Okay, I overdid the last chapter. Sorry.

I've recently done a crossover with **Shaun Garin**, in his fic _**Power Rangers Decade**_. Everything that happens after the giant marshamallwow man take palce in Shaun's fic. The events of that chapter are canon to this fic. How _else_ was I going to stick _**Power Rangers**_ into this thing? :-p Check it out, it's great!

Onemanga is shutting down! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! How will I follow Negima NOW? My manga! My _preccccciiiious _manga_! _Any recommendations for replacement sites? I am terrified I won't be able to keep up with Negima.

Anyway, crack at Maximum, ecchi at greater than normal levels. Review, please? TvTrope it, dattebayo!

...

Takamachi Nanoha of 2814

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 11: The Linker Cores War, Part 5: All Hell Breaks Loose or 'Vita-chan's Ero-Ero Adventures!'

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story. If I did… well, this would all be canon. WARNING: MAY CAUSE HEAD EXPLOSION!

...

If Nanoha knew how to curse, she would have. As it was, she was improvising.

"Poot," she said vehemently as Tomoyo and Sakura's friend, Lee Syaoran, was fussed over by doctors. Healers? Medi-mages? She really needed to learn the terminology. She turned to the Amy. "Will he be all right?"

Amy nodded, face distressed. "He should be fine. His Linker Core is different again, but it seems to be recovering just fine. It should be back to normal in about a few days."

Nanoha pursed her lips, frowning. "Bardiche and Raging Heart aren't ready yet?"

Amy shook her head. "Bardiche will be done soon, but between the– what did your ring call it? Willfire Intermix Lens?– the building of the custom piece and the need to reinforce Raging Heart's structure, it might be a while. Even then the reinforcement won't be complete, and Raging Heart might not be able to completely stand up to the use of the new systems."

"Can you show me what kind of reinforcement is needed?" Nanoha asked. "Perhaps Ring-chan and I can think of something."

Amy frowned, but nodded. "I'll send you the relevant data."

Nanoha smiled thankfully, before slumping. "This is getting out of hand. I think their original intention was to attack Sakura-chan for _her_ Linker Core. I… I think these people have marked everyone who came to my rescue. After all, they're among the most powerful magic users in Japan. And their linker cores seem compatible enough. I think… I think they're all in danger. These people… they'll be after them soon. I need to warn them! I need to tell them they're targets too! Before this happens again! Amy-chan, I need to get to back Earth, NOW!"

Amy frowned. "It will take some time. The transporters aren't as fast as the Asura, and–"

"Show me what I need to know to navigate this 'Dimensional Sea'," Nanoha said, determined. "I should have asked you this a long time ago. Show me what reference points you use, measurements, that sort of thing. And I'll show you a Green Lantern is faster than anything man can build. I'll get us home. Believe it."

Amy did. "Let me get you those papers."

...

Saotome Haruna was awakened by a tapping at her window. She opened it groggily, part of her hoping this wasn't Evangeline in the mood for a quick nibble or something. The faint green glow warned her.

Green Lantern floated outside her window, the little girl's face grimmer than she'd ever seen. "Haruna-san," she said softly. "I heard about your idea for a United Magical Girls Association of Japan. How quickly could you ptoperly organize it if I put you into contact with all the ones I know?"

"W-wha?" Haruna said, adjusting her glasses blearily.

"I think the same people who attacked me and injured Negi-chan and Sailor Moon-sama are targeting the people that arrived to help me, Haruna-san," Green Lantern said. "They're targeting people with magic, the stronger the better."

Haruna felt like she'd been splashed with cold water as she turned to look at the slumbering forms of Nodoka and Yue. Her face set in grim mask. People with magic… that was most of the people she knew, possibly even herself if her having an Artifact meant anything. It certainly meant Konoka and Asuna.

She turned to Green Lantern, expression stony. Negi was a good teacher by example. No one would hurt her friends. "Come back in the morning," she said, drawing out her card. "I should have something by then."

_It would be a long night,_ she thought as Green Lantern left, and she began to draw. But she was used to it. This was just another deadline. And she never missed a deadline. None of the important ones, at any rate.

...

Illya opened her window without opening her own eyes as Kuro slept blissfully on the bed they were forced to share. _Lucky bitch_, she thought. Aloud, she said, "It's the middle of the night! You better have a damned good reason for waking me up, or I swear I'm going Maximal Schneiden on your ass."

"Illya-san," a voice said, familiar but a bit hard to place.

llya reluctantly opened one eye. She mostly saw a blur of green. "Green Lantern-chan?"

"Illya, I think you and your friends might be in danger," Green Lantern said. Illya tried to wake up further. "And I have a proposition for you…"

...

"An official Magical Girls' association?" Sailor Mercury said, frowning at Green Lantern through the Mercury computer's screen. "Like what that girl with the sketchpad suggested?"

Green Lantern nodded. "I know it's our nature to be independent and a bit argumentative, but it's also our nature to lay aside minor differences when it comes to truly dangerous threats. And after such threats are vanquished, we usually stay more amendable to each other. I'd like to create more… not exactly unity, but more communication between all of us. After all, the Senshi have a lot of experience dealing with the most diverse kinds of enemies, Ala Alba has varied field specialists beyond just elemental affinities and battlefield skills, I have flexibility and power… I'm not saying we make up a schedule to patrol Japan against ALL threats, but this way if a team is having difficulty, they can at the very least be put in contact with someone who can advice then, to some degree. And… the people who attacked Sailor Moon, Negi-chan and myself are still out there. And I've received a report that indicates they're targeting magical girls to drain for power. I believe your group is familiar with that kind of M.O.?"

"Just a little," Sailor Mercury said, smiling slightly. "Magical girls?"

"This afternoon, a boy in Tomoeda with a degree of magical ability and who was friends with that masked girl– the one whose staff was pink with a gold star?– was attacked by the same people," Green Lantern said grimly. "He's stable, but this won't be the last. These people… they're collecting energy for something call the 'Book Of Darkness', Sailor Mercury. My friends here say that once it's complete, destruction follows."

Sailor Mercury sighed. "Obviously. Something with a name like 'Book of Darkness' isn't exactly made for bringing joy to the empty lives of wheelchair-ridden little girls."

Somewhere, Hayate sneezed in her sleep.

"I'll have to discuss it with the others, but I'm definitely in," Sailor Mercury continued. "And I can tentatively say the others are likely to be too."

"Thank you," Green Lantern said, bowing onscreen. "I'm having Haruna– the girl with the sketch pad– take charge of organizing the networking."

Sailor Mercury straightened, mildly alarmed. "_Her_?-! But…! _She…!_"

"I know, I've heard about how she tried to con everyone, but she _does_ genuinely have a stake in this," Green Lantern said placatingly. "Many of her closest friends have magical abilities to one degree, and she's close friends with Negi-chan. I know she's a bit… strange, but she and her friends have excellent organization and logistics abilities, and from what I've heard, her sketchpad is possibly equal and in some fields able to surpass my ring. But I was actually going to ask you if you and their computer specialist handle the actual networking and communications. Haruna's more a ring-master than an organizer. She'll get this going, I'm sure, but getting anything to work…"

"I'm on it," Sailor Mercury said. "Who am I supposed to contact?"

"I don't know her real name– I'm not sure I've met her– but Haruna says their computer specialist is known as– well, one of the names they're known as– The Calculator."

...

"_No! We're running out of time!_

"_It won't stop regenerating!"_

"_Freezing it isn't enough!"_

"_Hit it with everything we've got! More Dakka!"_

"_I'm out of ordinance! I knew I should have put in more of the nukes!"_

"_**No!**__ We're so __**close! **__My Berserker __**will**__ have JUSTICE!"_

"_We need more time!"_

"_Princess…"_

"_NO! Don't you __**dare!**__"_

"_As you all say, we need more time…"_

"_**NO! **__I'm __**ordering**__ you, __**NO**__!"_

"_Good bye…"_

"_Stop her!"_

"_Time… Stop…"_

"_PLUTO!"_

Her eyes snapped open, the cry ringing in her ears amidst the sounds of a helicopter as her hand reached forward, towards the ceiling, trying to grasp an ephemeral ghost that was already gone. Shuddering, she let her hand drop to her covers, pulling the blanket tight around her.

"Ordinance…" she muttered to herself. "What's… ordinance?"

It took her some time to get back to sleep…

...

Nanoha had a boring day. Get up, admire how saccharinely close her family was, stop a few petty crimes, go to school, visit with her friends, return home, drink from a shaking… glass… of… water…?

"Hey, what is that anyhow?" asked Miyuki as everyone stared out the windows of the Midoriya.

"It's… a… giant marshmallow man?" said Shinobu in an uncertain voice.

What happened next was several crazy days with 'Power Rangers' and some girl named Vivio. Nanoha's only consolation was that hearing voices in her head at any point was not part of it.

...

"Meh…" Nanoha sighed, laying her head down on her deck, letting the cool wood press against her forehead. "I hate giant monsters…"

"I hate pizza…" Yuuno agreed, curled up in his basket in ferret form.

Nanoha moaned, turning her head to one side. Getting everything rebuilt after what people were calling the 'Uminari Hundred Minute Hundred Monster War' had been a… pooty time. Though the Rangers had assured her that the 'Morphing Grid's' power– or, as Ring-chan vehemently insisted on calling it, a psycho-reactive plasmic energy that was definitely _not_ magic!– would ensure that everyone in the immediate area of the battle would be 'magically' evacuated in the nick of time, Green Lantern's searches had found a few dozen people buried in the rubble. Thankfully, there didn't seem to be any deaths in this incident, something she was _very_ reluctant to assign to any sort of higher power. Or magical one, for that matter.

Not that it hadn't been fun. She and Vivio-chan had become good friends, and she dearly wished to meet the girl again in the future. The older Chrono and older Yuuno that had come with her had said it might be possible some day, whether by another freak accident conveniently sending them her way– their words, not hers– or as some sort of contrived last-minute cavalry that providence would assemble in a future hour of need– again, their words. Or perhaps it would be the other way around, with her having the accident or needing the cavalry.

The Chrono she knew had seemed very motivated by his older self, as did Amy for some reason. Even the captain had been enthused by their arrival, spending long hours with the older Yuuno in her room, apparently having _fascinating_– Lindy's word, not hers– discussions about law enforcement as practiced by the TSAB and the other's Space Patrol Delta. It must certainly be enthusiastic discussions, because Yuuno always came out of the room sweating and a bit red. This seemed to annoy the Chronos a lot. Well, she supposed Chrono would never stop being a mama's boy…

Sighing, Nanoha pushed herself up. She had a schedule to keep, after all. "Yuuno-kun, can you spot me?" she said, regaining some of her old energy as she made herself comfortable on her chair. Yuuno made a non-comittal sound, but straightened up turning to watch Nanoha.

Nanoha held out her hands. "Lyrical Magical," she intoned, and a pink point of light manifested itself. It was weaker than what she'd been able to make before she was attacked, which, granted, had been no Divine Shooter. It had been bought to her attention that maybe it would be a good idea to work on her magic, on the basis she might need to use it without Raging Heart to help. Before she she'd been attacked, small Divine Shooters had been her limit, and maybe a shield, though she wasn't sure how good that latter had been, just that she could make it. Using her own ring against her own shields hadn't been a hot idea: the shields kept breaking under her will.

Frowning, she began her exercises…

...

Being magically drained, Lee Syaoran concluded, was a bitch.

He had chest pains in places he didn't know were there, his magic-sense as currently all skewed out of whack, he had occasional headaches which apparently stemmed from the fact his brain and his damaged 'Linker Core'– honestly, it sounded like some kind of stupid Harry Potter fandumb body part!– were messing with each other, and to top it all off, when he'd finally gotten back from wherever the space-wizards had taken him Sakura had given him a hug, gushing about how brave he'd been to fight off the bad people like that, leading to Daidouji giving him the Kiss of Death.

It had _definitely_ been the Kiss of Death. She'd given it right after he'd broken the 'Thou Shall Not Touch Sakura-chan Intimately' rule– never mind _she'd_ touched_ him–_ kissing right on the edge of his cheek, practically on his mouth, and she'd said, "You're very brave, Lee-kun," with that _smile_ of hers. It had to be a Kiss of Death, right? He wondered which of her on-call-killers would be doing the deed. Cousin Sandra? Oh, _please_ don't let it be her, family connections to her were messed up enough without _that_!

Tomoyo rolled her eyes as Lee seemed insistent on giving himself an ulcer or heart attack before he was in his teens. Honestly, she'd been absolutely sincere in her congratulations! Though she had to admit, it was fun watching him squirm and knowing it was because of something _she'd_ done…

...

"And where do you think _you're_ going, young lady?"

Negi groaned and wondered if the universe was run by some kind of sicko who liked humiliating him. "Asuna!" he cried, turning to face the grinning Magic Canceller. "Stop _calling_ me that! I'm just going to give Doe-san her extra lessons!"

"Hmm…" Asuna said, nodding. "Very responsible and teacherly of you."

Negi nodded in agreement.

"So you won't be needing that practice wand of Konoka's you filched and stuck down your sock, right?"

Negi pouted at her. "It's _my_ wand…" he muttered, pulling it out awkwardly from under the slacks– a dark navy blue that was softer than he'd have preferred– and out of the baggy socks he'd been forced to wear since they'd stolen his wardrobe. At least it wasn't the yellow sundress, though.

Asuna took from his sullen grasp. "No magical Boom Boom for you, Negi-chan," she chirped, though the protectiveness in her eyes was nothing to laugh at. Run _from_ maybe, but not laugh at.

Negi sighed, deflating. "I've been feeling much better, so I thought…" he muttered.

Asuna's expression softened, and she tossed the wand on a nearby table as she stepped forward to ruffle her partner's hair and give him a one armed, totally-platonic-yup-nothing-romantic-about-this hug. "Hey, don't you go all emo about this again. Seriously, this is a serious injury that no one we know has ever encountered before. Follow the doctor's orders and take it slow, okay? What would your legions of adoring subjects say when they hear the great Prince of Ostia lost his magic because he couldn't tone it down for a few days? Given that mess in Uminari, we all deserve a break. If you really feel like worrying about something, Haruna's _still_ on her Mistress of Giant Monsters kick, between coordinating this Magical Girl Association thing with Chisame and Sailor Mercury-sama. The Hundred War at least got them that test-run they wanted, and they've been working on kinks since."

Negi smiled, possessive pride on his features. The communication's network his students had set up had been a resounding success, and he could help but be proud of them. Who'd have thought that love-crazy Haruna of all people would be able to actually rally together such a diverse group of distant people and get them to work together? He tried not to think about how her methods would be equally effective for rallying villains bent on world domination.

"But you don't need to worry _too_ much, since those Ranger people made sure everyone they talked to knew Haruna was clocking high on the kilonazi scale," Asuna added as if hearing his thoughts.

That brought back some thing to recent memory. "Asuna, are _you_ all right?" he said, looking up at her worriedly. "Kuro did drain you a lot…"

Asuna blushed at the memory of the perverted girl. "She needed the energy for those swords and arrows she makes. Zedd had a lot of minions up there, and not all of them could be Exorcised." She scowled as if this was a personal affront.

"Still…" Negi said.

"Oh, don't worry, Negi," she said. "She just emptied out the gas tank, not took a hammer to the engine. I'm fine. Now get going, you don't want to be late for your lesson with Doe-san."

Negi nodded, picking up his books from the table and turning for the door.

"And Negi…" Asuna said.

Negi paused. "Yes?"

"Leave the wand."

Darn.

...

Bruce Wayne sighed. He gave the papers in front of him a glare that should have not only incinerated it, but put the ashes in an environmentally friendly receptacle and swept the floor. Giant robots. Magical girls. Space-wizards at one point, it seemed. Lots and lots of giant monsters. Some sort of green, light-based weapon that had destroyed– he felt a headache pulsing– a big-even-by-Tokyo-standards marshmallow man straight out of that old movie.

He was coming to _loathe_ Uminari. Why hadn't he put their corporate headquarters in Tokyo like everyone else again? Oh right, the giant monsters, magical girls, occasional energy-draining infiltration for an extra-dimensional magical invasion, and general weirdness. That was why they only had the public relations and marketing departments there. Everything else were in the Uminari and Fuyuki offices.

Bruce sighed, leaning back and rubbing his temples. The sun would be setting soon. Then it would be time to get changed to his _real_ work clothes, see if Daidouji was _serious_ about all those killers being just there for guard duty, check out this absurd Church she'd apparently had registered– First Church of the Cherry Blossom? Seriously?– maybe take the time to see the sights, put the fear of _HIM_ into the local lowlifes, stay the heck away from the local 'Magical Girls', investigate Mahora Academy…

Bruce felt a chill run through him at the thought, and looked up at the universe suspiciously. He cautiously repeated the last thought. Investigate Mahora Academy….

Another chill ran through him.

"All right, message received, intuition says don't go near the place," he muttered.

Sighing, he bent back over his paperwork. He needed to get it done before he went flying off. Responsibility and all that…

...

Kusanagi Makoto, pilot of Hammersuit Zero-X, stared hungrily at the giant robots, the 'Zords', as Green Lantern had said they were called in her oh-so-prompt and concise reports, fingers twitching.

"Makoto, give it up," Boss Bishonen said. "They're never going to approve the budget for that!"

"Maybe we can hide it in the repair budget…" she muttered.

"I'm already using that to hide my hair gel costs."

"You hair is on _fire_."

"Exactly. Napalm. Nothing like it for getting that disco-inferno look."

...

"Illya… wake up…"

"Hmm… oni-chan…"

Smooch! With Tongue!

"Illya…" Blush.

"Ah! Miyu! I'm–"

"Yeah, you're sorry, MIYU, COME 'ERE!"

Smooch! With Lots Of Tongue! Practically Mouth Rape!

"AHH! KURO, GET OFF MIYU!"

Business as usual for team loli…

...

Hayate was sniffing Vita's panties. This was a lot worse than it sounded, since Vita was still wearing them.

Really, it was all Vita's fault, squirming around so much when she slept that she ended up kicking off her bottoms and jerking Hayate awake. The brunette snickered at the green pedobear panties her knight was wearing. And to think Vita had chosen those herself. She leaned in again, taking a whiff and giggled.

"Eh…? AH! Hayate, w-what are you doing!-?" Vita exclaimed, barely managing to not kick Hayate in the face out of reflex. That doing so was also becoming a reflex was something she didn't dwell on.

Hayate giggled at her flustered Knight. "Oh, I was just thinking these might be a bit too tight for you. See, they're all wet because they were too tight and made you all sweat and squirmy last night."

Vita went as red as her knight armor, tucking her legs shut as Hayate laughed pleasantly. _That's it, _Vita resolved. _First chance we get, we're taking her off this nut-rock and trying to convince her it was all just a dream!_

...

There was a knock on the door to the Headmaster's office.

"Come in," the old man said.

Green Lantern pushed open the door, in green and black instead of her more usual green and white. Oh, sure her ring could do white fabrics as well, but she often felt that black was as much part of Corps colors as green was. "Ready to go, Negi-chan?" she asked.

Negi twitched slightly, but kept a pleasant smile on his face as he nodded. "Ready, Green Lantern-san. The Headmaster's arranged to have someone take care of my classes this morning while I have my checkup."

Green Lantern nodded happily in approval. "Education is important!" she agreed. "We don't have time to pick up Eternal Sailor Moon-sama, since she apparently has school. We've set up her checkup for this weekend."

Negi nodded. Finally he'd know how long before he could use magic again. Then maybe he could use it to track down the rest of his clothes. The slacks and blouse he was wearing, while serviceable enough for his peace of mind, were among the last in a slowly disappearing group of passably masculine clothes. About 80 percent of his closet space now contained sundresses, skirts from mini- on up, tube tops and, courtesy of Evangeline, several extremely Gothic Lolita outfits, complete with matching hats, umbrellas and purses. Never let it be said that the Dark Evangel wasn't generous in her gifts when trying to break someone's mind to teeny tiny pieces.

At this rate, Negi wouldn't have anything to wear to class tomorrow!

...

"Vita! What's taking you so long!" Signum asked. She wanted her bath, DARN IT!

"Uh… AH… in a minute!"

Signum rolled her eyes. "Take your time."

Grumbling ,the leader of the Wolkenritter– technically field leader, since, of course, Hayate was NUMBER 1!– hefted the basket containing all her bathing stuff. It was pretty heavy, what with, among other things, her 7 different shampoos, 4 different conditioners, 11 soaps, 23 bath salts, 5 kinds of bubble bath, her radio, a selection of rubber duckies, a little inflatable ring for her Hayate UFO Catcher doll, the latest Stephanie Meyer books, a lighter, several different kinds of bladed mutilation instruments, her wind-up Zoids, inflatable pillows, sliced cucumbers, a small salad, some pocky, the latest Light Novel she was following, some cupcakes and cookies, the collected works of the Marquis de Sade, her digital camera and a selection of fluffy towels and slippers in the shape of various animals. Since this was Signum, the animals all had their entrails coming out.

Signum had heard of quality and quantity. For her baths, she had decided, she would have both.

Putting the basket down on the sofa, she sat back a moment, contemplating the last few days. Because of… disruptions– her ears hurt in remembered agony at listening to Vita swear about all the sudden explosions and giant monster and robots. They _still_ didn't know what had caused that blinding green light, just that hadn't been magic– they hadn't been able to continue their plan to harvest more Linker Cores. Heck, they hadn't even dared going out to scout, staying home to make sure it didn't get stepped on with Hayate inside it while Vita tried to convince Hayate– quite unsuccessfully– that Gotham City seemed a nice, peaceful place to live.

Credit where credit was due, that Green Lantern girl certainly was able to keep Uminari safe for Hayate. Though Signum had to wonder how she was flying after having her Linker Core taken. Did _she_ have anything to do with the burst of green light? No, it must have been the other boy, the one who had such good defensive spells. He _certainly_ must have such power as that. She wondered how the young, trim, taught mage, with the nicely lean body, in that tight, formfitting green and black uniform with the buckles and the dog collar on it…

Signum firmly reminded herself it was bad form to embellish recollections of an enemy when considering for future combat situations. There was a possibility they'd run into them again in future, after all. Actually, it was more of a certainty. True, the TSAB hadn't interfered with their operation the day before that giant white fluffy creature made of sucrose products had suddenly appeared and been blown to fluff , but given the ridiculous difficulty of the ensuing encounter, that was probably the best thing that could have happened to them.

Seriously, 'very few mages coming from Earth' her perfectly toned ass! Those people had been a nightmare, considering most of them had used chemically-propelled mass-based weaponry, and there had only been one magic user of any sort to offer resistance. Vita _had_ to be mistaken about the source of the electrical attacks from the girl's blades. The girl hadn't had a Linker Core to even worth mentioning, how could she have possibly created electricity, one of the hardest elements to master? Really, the girl couldn't be as bad as all that. After all, she had looked barely ten, her features too soft to have undergone any sort of combat training to stand up to one of the Belkans.

For a brief moment, Signum got the weird feeling the universe was laughing at her. She fiddled with the lampshade next to her, sighing impatiently as she waited for Vita to finish. They'd be trying for more Linker Cores today, and it would be best they did it early so Hayate wouldn't worry if they were gone. And it would be the first combat field-test of Shamal's new creations, and while everyone was too nice to say it, they all kind of wished there'd been a better means of testing.

The door finally opened, and Vita stepped out, towel inexpertly wrapped around her and nearly slipping off as it was, making Signum's fingers itch to show the girl how to do it right. Such a lack of respect for baths! Blasphemous!

Signum blinked, and realized the bath was empty. She grabbed her basket, hauling the thing to the bathroom so fast she should have left a big cloud of dust for some hapless coyote to crash into. The door clicked shut with finality.

Zafira and Shamal, who had been there all along, looked at each other. "See?" the familiar said. "Told you it was a good idea to wake up early to use the bathroom before those two."

Shamal sighed. "At least Signum cleans up after herself. Though destroying a book a bath is pretty wasteful…"

...

Alisa looked at Nanoha and Fate's empty chairs and sighed. "You know, it's getting pretty suspicious, the way those two keep disappearing like this," she muttered sideways towards Suzuka.

Suzuka nodded sagely. "Do you think they're off someone having wild hot underaged loli sex?" she asked.

Alisa blushed. "Suzuka! Where do you get such things?-!"

"My cousin Tomoyo," Suzuka said. "And your cousin Ayaka. You _really_ should come back to Ladies' Tea Day, Alisa-chan."

"I'll protect my sanity from the crazy lolicons and shotacons instead, no offense, Suzuka-chan" Alisa muttered.

...

Meanwhile, Nanoha and her amazing friends were hurtling through the boringly scenic Dimensional Sea!

"–bang, chitty bang-bang, Chitty-chitty Bang-bang, we love you!" Nanoha, Fate, Arf and Negi all sang, bopping their heads along to the tune as Nanoha made cheerful but not really important wild steering gestures with the steering wheel.

Yuuno, seated at the back of the glowing green open-topped car with the fold-out cloth wings and levitation propellers, just sighed and tried to get back to reading his book. At least it wasn't from Spongebob…

...

Tsukino Usagi was lazy-happy.

While the others had needed to deal with those giant monsters a few days ago– while wished she could go, really she did, but still, giant monsters, and some of them had had tentacles– she'd cooled her heels, watching it all from TV and knowing with absolute confidence her friends would be able to pull through. She had faith in them, after all.

Besides, now that Setsuna was cut off from the bubbly, she'd been quite aggressive in the battlefield lately, such that Makoto and Haruka were almost feeling insecure. Though, as Michiru had glowing commented next to an equally glowing Haruka, this wasn't such a bad thing. Makoto had just mumbled something with 'sempai' in it and proceeded to murder her ice-cream like it had killed off her entire family with an army of demons.

That had been a while ago, before Ami's computer had rung warning of– Usagi sighed in slothful joy– something or other _she_ wouldn't have to go deal with. The others had quickly left to fight the forces of evil, leaving her behind.

She ate her own ice-cream, savoring the taste of the confection. Ah, bliss.

It was pure, uncivilized joy, ice-cream. She wasn't sure who had had the bright idea to combine it with chocolate, but she had long ago firmly resolved to try and bring them back to life as soon as she was sure her control of the Ginzoushou wouldn't turn him into some kind of heart-eating super-powered space-zombie.

Somewhere, Nekron sneezed. It was _**DISGUSTING!**_

She was so busy savoring the sweet, milky, sticky, totally-not-Freudian-at-all orgasmic bliss of her ice-cream that she completely missed the girl who plopped down on the bench in front of her.

Finally, Usagi finished off her frozen, sweet, milky, sticky, totally-not-Freudian-at-all orgasmic bliss, sighing happily as she put down the bowl and spoon and contemplating getting another one. The notion would solidify in a few minutes, but right now it was just a nebulous happy thought as she lay back on her booth.

Vita smiled at her from across the table, a scarily-thick book next to her on the seat. "Hey," the little knight said, and Usagi's blood turned to liquid nitrogen in her veins. "Damn, blondie, you can _really_ put it away. Oh, and you have some on your cheek." The knight tossed Usagi a tissue, who caught it dazedly and proceeded to dab at her face. "No, a little to the left… there, you got it all. Man, you're a hard girl to find. I wouldn't have found you at all if I hadn't looked at the window and seem your hair. I'd have introduced myself sooner, but you looked like you were _really _enjoying yourself there. How are you… Sailor Moon."

Usagi's blood dropped to a temperature usually reserved for absolute entropy.

"I'd just like to say, I'm a big admirer of your work," Vita said in the ensuing silence. "I hear you and your girls have put up with a lot of crap protecting this loony bin. I can respect that. Oh yeah, forgot to introduce myself. Sorry about that. Vita, the Crimson Iron Rider, Iron Knight of the Wolkenritter, soldiers of Our Lady, the Queen of the Night Sky, Mistress of the Book of Darkness. There is nothing I cannot destroy. How do you do?"

Usagi nodded jerkily in acknowledgement, finally regaining her voice. "W-what do you want?" she said, struggling not to panic.

Vita smiled and pointed at Usagi's chest. She could almost have _sworn_ she felt something in there jump. "The same thing we wanted last time, girly. Come quietly, okay? All these little people around us don't have to be hurt."

Usagi was suddenly very conscious of all the people around them. Even if she dared risk transforming– something the nice space-wizard doctor had warned her against– she remembered quite clearly the speed and savagery with which the little girl had attacked Superman, one of if not _the_ strongest and fastest being in the world. She remembered the state of little Green Lantern-chan, and knew she didn't have a prayer against this girl in front of her, at least if she started from 'completely normal and injured to boot'. Still, there had to be _something_ she could do. Think, think…

Yes, it wasn't her strong suit, but desperate times, darn it!

"C-could I order one last ice-cream then?" Usagi said, the surrender in her voice only partially feigned, to her shame, but at least it was only _partially_.

Vita seemed to consider it. "Eh, why not?" she said magnanimously. "And get me one too."

A part of Usagi prickled at having to buy such divine treats for someone who was going to attack her, but she signaled for the ice-creams anyway. She was here so often the staff and her had worked out a series of hand-signals for this sort of thing.

She looked at the treat a bit forlornly when it arrived, ignoring how Vita was poking at hers like it was some kind of new toy. She'd ordered two 'Chocolate Overkill Omnicides', which the place touted as containing the highest concentration of chocolate that could legally be sold outside to the public without making anyone sign waivers. As a last meal, it was perfectly acceptable. As a last meal at all, it was pretty depressing.

A low rumbling began to echo in front of her, and she blinked. Vita had a spoon in her mouth, a little bit of dark creamy, sweet, milky, sticky, totally-not-Freudian-at-all substance staining her lips as she went cross-eyed, a low throbbing in her throat rising as if a plain powered by a hundred kittens was taking off. She swallowed and shuddered, pulling the spoon out of her mouth and staring at it in horrified wonder.

"Sweet Lady of the Book…" she breathed, staring at the bowl in front of her. Slowly, she poked in the spoon, lifting it before her with almost holy reverence. She stared at it, then put it in her mouth. Usagi tried not to think of how much it looked like some kind of sucking scene from a loli-doujin (and how she knew what _that_ looked like, she will never admit to, and you will never know). "Oh, yeaaaahhhh… Ha! Aah! AH!"

Usagi and a few of the closer customers stared at Vita as she poked her spoon in again. She bought it to her mouth, but instead of putting it in the watchers were treated to the kind of intricate muscular contortions normally associated with octopi as Vita proceeded to lick as much of it off the spoon as she could. "Oh, _yeeeeeeeeessss_! OH! AH! YES! YES!"

Usagi stuck out her own tongue and looked at it in cross-eyed incredulity. Other watchers did the same, some trying to get their's to contort as Vita's had.

More began to watch in slowly mounting horrified perverted fascination as Vita took another scoop, her tongue slowly licking up her spoon in a way that made her head bob interestingly, making many people squirm. "Oh… AH! HA Ah! Yes, YES! MORE! I want MORE!" she moaned while her free hand pounded the table repeatedly.

Completely unmindful of her captive audience, Vita tossed aside her spoon, divining at the ice-cream bowl with reckless abandon, licking at the dark, creamy, sweet, milky, sticky, totally-not-Freudian-at-all confection like an anteater going after crack-covered ants, to a rising succession of noises that was causing several nosebleeds, dizziness, and a few instances of ruined underwear.

Usagi was frantically holding a tissue to her nose as Vita finally came up for air, eyes half-glazed in delirious pleasure. The rising crescendo Vita's… _sounds_… had taken in the last few moments had been… pornographic, to say the least.

The knight was staring at Usagi's own still untouched 'Chocolate Overkill Omnicide'. "Are you going to eat that?" Vita panted.

Usagi hastily shoved it at her, unsure whether she'd _ever_ be able to look at ice-cream the same way again but _definitely_ sure she wouldn't be able to eat any for the rest of the day. "S-sure, take it," she said, and she could _hear_ the collective gulp of the rest of the room, who were all now staring at Vita with… well, they were staring at Vita in a way with no descriptor fit for polite company. Usagi was one of them. "Haven't you, ah, ever tasted ice-cream before?"

Vita shook her head as she pulled the other bowl closer to her. A bit of creamy, sweet, milky, sticky, totally-not-Freudian-at-all substance dripped down her cheek, and she raised a finger to wipe it off and stuck the finger in her mouth. There was another mass-gulp. "No, this was my first time." Another mass-gulp. "It… it was _soooo_ _**GOOD**_**! **More… I want more! I… I want to be filled… I want to be _FILLED_… with ICE-CREAM!"

The room grew still, staring as Vita proceeded to molest the poor ice-cream in front of her, blush levels slowly rising. A couple near the back stood up, the boy hunched slightly as trying to stay bent as he and his girlfriend made a hasty retreat, trying to figure out where the closest motel was. Another girl suddenly jerked upright as her girlfriend put her hand in her skirt pocket.

Usagi prayed she be forgiven for what she was about to do. "Oh, you poor dear!" she said, raising a hand to get the counter's dazed attention. "No wonder you're so troubled! Sir, please give my friend as much ice-cream as she wants!" She gave Vita her most soulful look, and tried not to feel that somewhere, Beryl, Mettalia, Wiseman, Galaxia and _Happosai_ were decrying her for evil levels of indecency. "As much as she wants. My treat."

Vita moaned in pleasure. Everyone else gave Usagi looks of mingled horror, disgust and perverted gratitude.

By the time Vita had worked on her third ice-cream, everyone was too busy watching the show to notice when someone entered the store.

The Iron Knight was busy finishing licking out the bowl in a highly evocative manner when someone tapped her on the shoulder. "Excuse me."

Vita turned.

Sailor Jupiter's punch broke the crimson shield the knight hastily put up into _**so**_ many pieces, sending her flying and slamming into the window next to the booth, before crashing into and partially through the wall of the building across the street.

"You're in my seat," the pony-tailed brunette said, flexing the fingers of her hand. She turned to Usagi and said, quite loudly for the benefit of the staring crowd. "Are you all right, good citizen? Did that little girl who was actually an evil energy-draining monster in disguise hurt you? Never fear, the Senshi are here!"

"You're overdoing it," Usagi muttered out of the corner of her mouth, even as she clasped her hands dramatically, and stared at Sailor Jupiter with stars in her eyes. "Oh, thank you Sailor Jupiter-sama! That mean girl was using her evil magic to hold me prisoner and make me buy her ice-cream before she evilly drained me of power! How can I ever repay you?-!"

"Ohohohoho," Sailor Jupiter said loftily. "No need to thank me! Pass the goodwill along! I daresay a good friend of yours who's always there to help you probably deserves an ice-cream or something."

"I told you, she cleaned me out," Usagi hissed.

"Yeah, right," sailor Jupiter hissed right back.

"SANKT KAISER DAMN IT!" was the echoing but highly audible cry from across the street as masonry was moved. "THERE AREN'T _**SUPPOSED**_ TO BE THIS MANY FRICKIN' MAGES ON THIS PLANET!"

"Saved," Sailor Jupiter hissed. She raised her voice back to cheesy-playing-for-the-crowd levels. "Well, there is still evil afoot! Please get yourselves somewhere safe, good citizens! Sailor Jupiter, AWAY!"

She awayed.

Usagi stared at the discarded ice-cream bowls and stood up, walking quickly towards the rest rooms. She'd just made it there when the penny dropped for everyone else. There was a mad rush for stalls.

...

"HOW THE HECK DID YOU GET HERE SO FAST!" Vita was yelling and pointing accusingly at the Sailor Senshi, who stood outside the broken window of the store like a wall. The mask Shamal had insisted they wore so that they couldn't be traced to Hayate aggravated her annoyance, which was a lot at the best of times.

Sailor Mars smiled grimly at her. "Green Lantern-chan told us about how you people operated. The range isn't good, but Sailor Mercury managed to pick you up when you approached Sailor Moon. Call it really bad timing on your part. We were just getting back from beating up some old Doom Tree spawn. Have you met Super Young Team, by the way? They were in the neighborhood and were nice enough to agree to come along when they heard you were coming, give you the old Tokyo-Gojira welcome."

"Doesn't Gojira usually kicked Tokyo's ass?" Crazy Shy Lolita Canary hissed.

"Hush, she's on a roll," Shiny Happy Aquazon hissed back.

"H-hi…" Big Atomic Battery Boy said, waving awkwardly.

"No, Battery-kun, you don't have to be polite to the pint-sized magical minion of evil," Sailor Venus explained kindly. "We beat her up, just like everyone else."

"Oh, sorry Venus-sempai," Battery (let's just call him that, shall we?) said.

Vita felt the familiar presence of Signum and Zafira suddenly appear at her side, and smirked as she watched the loony bin of mages in front of he suddenly grow more guarded. The front door of the store she'd just been throw out of– she made a note to convince Shamal to do some kind of transformative magic disguise on her so she could go back there– opened, and Sailor Jupiter stalked out.

"You!" Sailor Jupiter cried. "How dare you show your faces here!"

Signum stood impassive. "We are here for your Linker Cores," she said, voice even, not a ripple to betray what she felt.

"You and whose army?-!-?" Sailor Jupiter cried.

"NO!" screamed Sailor Mercury, but it was too late.

Signum snapped her fingers. "Servants, come forth."

Instantly, a large triangular array formed, and dozens of humanoid forms suddenly appeared. Some carried sword, some croquet mallets, others were beasts, and still others carried books.

"Servants Sabers," Signum ordered her units, pointing with Laevatein. "Attack."

"Servants Berserkers!" Vita cried, directing her own hammer-wielding units. "Attack!"

"Servants Avengers!" Zafira called. "Attack!"

"Servants Casters!" Signum said, gesturing. "Strike."

"No!" Sailor Mercury whispered as people, who could see where this was going, began to make a break for it, abandoning thier cars and just running. "Those are Dark Kingdom Youma. _They have Dark Kingdom Youma!_"

"Well, shit," Well-Spoken Sonic Lightning Flash said succinctly.

"Agreed," Most Excellent Superbat said.

Sailor Pluto stepped forward, one side of her face twisted in a snarling grin. "Bring it on." Sailor Uranus and Sailor Jupiter glared at her for taking their line.

"Raise barrier," Signum said, and the sky and world began to color strangely.

The two sides charged.

...

"Incredible…" the… magical medical healing person said as he ran a scanner over Negi's chest. "Your Linker Core is in nearly perfect condition, despite how much more extensively damaged it was compared to, um, Green Lantern-san."

Green Lantern and Negi blinked. "Really?" Negi said. "Extensively damaged? How?"

"Well, I'm not sure to the details, but your Linker Core appeared to have been highly degraded, as if something had already been attacking it even _before_ it was drawn out by your attackers," the healer said, giving Negi an inscrutable look. The boy squirmed guiltily. "Nevertheless, it appears to have healed itself much faster than it should otherwise have."

Negi frowned, then snapped his fingers in realization. "Oh! The resort! That must have been it! Silly of me to forget."

Green Lantern raised an eyebrow at him. "Do you think this… 'resort' could be used to help Sailor Moon-sama and that boy Lee-san recover faster?"

Negi frowned. "It probably can. But the resort belongs to the Master, and we'll need her permission to use it."

"Your Master?" Green Lantern said.

"I think you've met her before. At least, she's spoken of you. Do you remember Evangeline-san?"

Negi and the healer were treated to the sight of Green Lantern suddenly stiffening, eyes going wide in purest terror behind her mask before she collapsed into a fetal ball, rocking back and forth on the floor. "…I don't want to die, I don't want to die, I don't want to die…" she muttered non-stop.

Negi sighed. "Really, why does everyone think the master is so bad?"

One could almost accuse him of being distracted by the sex, if he was so obviously not…

...

The area around Crown was a battlefield.

"COME ON!" Pluto cried, whirling her Time Key over her head with expert precision, and smashing it's tines into the jaw of a Zoid-Liger-like Avenger, breaking it's teeth and skull. "COME ON IF YOU THINK YOU'RE HARD ENOUGH! **PLUTO IS STILL A PLANET!**" She charged, the Time Key a whirlwind in her hands, parrying swords and hammers while crushing heads, limbs, chests and hands.

"Someone really needs to disconnect that woman's berserk button," Shiny Happy Aquazon said as she and Sailor Mercury worked defensively, the latter using her Mercury Aqua Rhapsody to try and hold the attacking drones in place, while the former used her powers to either main, cripple, crush, or outright attack with either crushing ice or hard-water constructs.

"We've tried, but the alcohol wasn't setting a good example," Sailor Mercury said, multi-tasking as she attacked, kept an eye on the readings her computer and visor were picking up, and tried to contact the Association's Network. "Mercury to all Associates, please respond! Calculator-san, please come in! Come in, please! Kira Death Note Paru-sama, are you there?"

Aquazon's eyebrow ran for her green hair. "'Kira Death Note Paru-sama'?" she said, clearly disbelieving.

Sailor Mercury grimaced. "If it makes you feel any better, everyone around her knows she's tilting toward evil and are keeping an eye on her."

Aquazon tought about that as she hit some charging Berserkers with a giant fist, sending them back but not really hurting them that much. "No, not really."

"Yeah, me neither."

Vita and her Berserkers were keeping the rest of the Inner Senshi and Battery Boy occupied, her Servants' wild swings in some cases literally tearing up the landscape as their opponents tried not to get crushed. Sailor Venus focused on trying to use her definitely-just-for-symbolism Love Me Chain to hold them down while Sailor Jupiter and Battery Boy unleashed their concentrated and area attacks. The things were hardy, however, and it was Sailor Mars who was making the most headway, taking her time to line up headshots with her Flame Sniper. Black mist ensued.

Well-Spoken Sonic Lightning Flash wove through the attackers, trying to trip them or push them against each other to keep them off balance and ineffectual. He'd given up trying to slow down and attack them when the blue-wearing Saber-types nearly skewered him. Crazy Shy Lolita Canary trailed in his wake, holding on tightly to his backpack, her weaponized cries of 'SUMIMASEN!' dopplering behind them. Some of the Servant's where knocked back, or dazed. A few unlucky ones who had it yelled into their ear had their heads asplode.

Beep-beep!

Most Excellent Superbat just drove through them on the Wonder Wagon. Why overcomplicate things?

Sailor Saturn and Zafira dueled. Unable to use her Silence Glaive Surprise due to the possible collateral damage, she took a more hands-on approach, using the Silence Glaive as a cross between a boar-spear and the can opener from hell, bracing herself against charges and using it's hooked end to tear him open, or at least trying to. Sailor Neptune guarded her back, using her mirror's Submarine Reflection as an area attack.

Sailor Uranus was having her rematch with Signum.

"Are you joking?" she said, dodging Sailor Uranus's attempted stab and slamming her elbow into the Senshi's torso. "You really insist on using that butter-knife as a weapon? That's just… sad. Not to mention strangely Freudian…"

"Shut up!" Sailor Uranus cried, attempting another thrust. Signum parried that away well, and looked like she should have been yawning while doing it. Sailor Uranus threw a punch with her other hand and Signum caught her by the wrist with contemptuous ease.

Sailor Uranus smiled and opened her hand. "World Shaking!"

Signum was blasted through the wall. Several, in fact.

"Shut up about it being Freudian, it's been done to death," Sailor Uranus said, twirling the ridiculously undersized Space Sword.

Several Saber-types dog-piled her as a response.

Signum pushed herself out of the rubble, one eyebrow twitching in annoyance. Again with the walls. Why is it she was always getting blasted through walls? Pushing herself up, she pulled the Book of Darkness from its hiding place, deciding that this one would be as good a target as any. It wasn't because Signum was being petty. No, definitely not. In fact, this was an acknowledgement of the ability of a worthy opponent! How better to recognize their skills than to declare them so dangerous to yourself you have to take them down right then and there with underhanded tactics and numerical superiority? Really. _Really_.

The pages opened as Signum stopped forward, her troops keeping the Senshi down with shear weight of numbers, in both sense of the term. She held up the book, which began to float. "Book of Darkness, begin download."

A rose cut her cheek. At about the same time, a manhole cover slammed into the Book like a discus, sending it flying into but not through a wall. If it could talk, it would have gone 'Wheeeeeee!'.

The Wonder Wagon plowed into the pile-up, knocking most of the Sabers off Sailor Uranus as Superbat leapt acrobatically out of the driver's seat, contorting like a snake to lash out with both feet at a Saber before flipping over to pull still ones off Sailor Uranus.

Signum stared at the blood on the hand she'd clamped over her cheek. _How will I explain this to Hayate…?_

The thought drifted through her head even as her instincts screamed, and Laevatein whirled, cutting three more roses out of the air, knocking away two more, and missing one to have it impale itself into her thigh, it's barbs tearing as it lodged itself in like a knife.

"Wow," a voice from above said, sounding pleasantly surprised, if grim. "This is new. Usually by the time I make it across town, it's all done except for the blasting."

Signum looked up at the man in the tuxedo, red-lined cape, mask and top hat standing on top of a conveniently undamaged lamppost, standing on the lampshade as if he were as light as a feather. She narrowed her eyes and hefted Laevantein. He twirled his cane, grabbing the knobbed end and drawing out a long, narrow blade. It went 'ting!'.

There was a long, drawn out dramatic moment in which several Servants tried to attack Tuxedo Kamen and promptly received a rose in the eye for their trouble, either severely disorienting or outright killing them, or some other projectile, such as a hard-water shot or an explosive superbatarang; and Sailor Uranus tried to charge at Signum several times, only to be tackled or otherwise detained by Servants herself, to Most Excellent Superbat's increasing amusement. Around them, attack cries, declarations of how "**Pluto is still a planet, darn it!**", sounds of bloody violence, Vita's deep blue acid swearing about how Earth was drug-tripping insane, and some random explosions echoed around them.

Signum flew upwards, Laevantein a deadly Freudian statement. Tuxedo Kamen threw left handed, a pair of roses flying and forcing Signum to alter her grip to deflect the two, even as Tuxedo Kamen leapt, blade low and cape whirling distractingly around him. Their blades met, the heavier Laevatein barely budging against the lighter sword-cane. Tuxedo Kamen spun in midair, the sheath portion of the came gripped in his left fist to slam backhanded into Signum's head. Signum quickly shifted Laevatein to block, foot flashing out to kick her opponent. Her foot met only cape, there was a disorienting whirl, and the cape was wrapped taught around her leg even as it was tugged to pull her to the ground.

She hit the ground before she could activate her flight, some ancient primate instinct killing it as she tried to balance herself on her feet, Laevatein swinging on another instinct and meeting the cane-sword, pushing it back slightly. Tuxedo Kamen disengaged, nearly making Signum fall again before she tore the cape from around her leg, leaving the garment ragged. Ignoring the clothing damage, he lunged, blade flashing straight as a bullet, causing Signum to dodge, Laevatein rising to parry even as pain bit into her left bicep as the cane blade clipped it, drawing blood.

_Hayate is definitely going to worry…_ was Signum's last clearly defined thought before everything became a whirl of blades, blood, roses and that _damned_ distracting cape…

...

"Green Lantern!" Yuuno cried as she and Negi stepped out of the examination room. "How did it go?"

Nanoha grinned. "Complete recovery!" she said. "And Negi-chan's all right too, though not all the way yet."

Negi winced slightly, but manfully– _HA!_– pressed on. "I'm mostly good to go, though I probably shouldn't cast Thousand Thunderbolts or Titan Slayer, and _definitely_ not use Magia Erebea yet. But Dr. Bones said it should be all right for me to use my other magic."

"That's great," Fate said, holding out Bardiche. "Bardiche is fine too. Raging Heart technically is as well, but they're still installing that experimental component."

"It's not experimental, it _will _work," Ring-chan said primly. "The math says it should."

Before anyone could respond, one of the TSAB people, his uniform denoting what Nanoha could recognize as someone low in the pecking order, ran up to them, skidding to a halt and saluting. "Begging you pardon ladies, sir, but you have an emergency message from the TSAB office in non-administered world 97."

The others looked at each other in alarm.

Nanoha phased through the nearest wall with her ring and was heading for outside as fast a possible, already building up speed. "_Relay the transmission to me!_" her voice cried from Yuuno's ring.

Yuuno frowned. "Does this mean I have to drive everyone back home?" he muttered. "Man, I hope I can find the way back…"

...

Chrono glared at the barrier over most of Juuban– not that he really knew what the area was called– with annoyance. He could see the melee that was happening inside, and momentarily wished he had a Zord to blast this problem away with. Or even… no, on second thought, being able to use 'Million Nanohas Emerald Starlight Breaker Rain' wouldn't be such a good thing. He heard Limiters sucked.

"Secure the perimeter," he ordered the TSAB mages with him. "When the barrier drops, be ready to set up our own to contain them. This ends today."

Not exactly Uchiha-Bat-Springfield levels of vengeance, but he was _not_ letting that _damned_ Book ruin more lives…

...

A Schwalbe Fliegen bopped Sailor Saturn on the back of the head as she tried to keep her Silence Block up in the face of Vita's attack, knocking her unconscious and felling her like a dropped puppet. Sailor Neptune was taken down the same way.

"Finally," Vita growled. Thank goodness these Magical Girl didn't seem be familiar with the idea of redirectable attacks, apparently mainly relying on the fire-and-forget variety. She directed two of her Berserkers to hold them down, having the rest form a defensive line as she called the Book of Darkness to her, having it zip out of wherever Tuxedo Kamen's manhole cover had sent it flying.

The two Senshi writhed as their Linker Cores were drawn out and downloaded, even as a sudden outcry indicated that someone had finally noticed the two downed Senshi. Vita ignored them, trusting Shamal's handiwork to do its thing as she finished completely downloading the green-haired woman and netting a good 29 pages. More than enough to offset the cost of making the Servants. She began on the other…

A cry of 'Stinger Ray!' interrupted the process at 35 pages– with many more to go– forcing Vita to dodge back, taking the Book of Darkness with her lest it get damaged. Vita glared up.

Chrono floated over the battlefield, eyes glaring at the book in her hands. "I am TSAB operative, code-name Tempus," he said. He felt silly calling himself that, but Nanoha had repeatedly driven home the monumental stupidity of operating under your own name on Earth, and she'd probably know. It was also the reason he was wearing a domino mask that had been impregnated with what little the TSAB had been able to decipher of the magic in Ala Alba's disguise glasses. "Surrender the Book of Darkness and lay down your device! If you don't resist, you will be granted the chance to plead in your own defense."

Vita rolled her eyes. "What's that legalistic gobbledegook supposed to mean, anyway!-?"

"It means if you say no, I get to kick your ass," Tempus said.

Vita grinned ferally. "Bring it, little boy! Graf Eisen, _Raketenform! Raketen Hammer!_" A cartridge was ejected as Vita spun upwards.

"I am a MAN!" Tempus shot back in response as he swung S2U (or as Amy liked to call it, 'Song To You'), energy concentrating around the Device. "_BREAK… IMPULSE!_"

There was an impact. These words are completely insufficient to portray the damaged caused, but there you go.

...

Somewhere, Carter Grayson, Mirror-traveling Power Ranger, sneezed.

"You okay, Carter?" Chrono, of SPD said, looking at the senior Ranger with concern. Vivio and Yuuno also looked at him.

Carter frowned. "I'm fine. Although for some reason I want to yell at you for theft."

"Huh?" Chrono said, confused.

"Yeah, I don't get it either."

...

"Wah, Chrono is so COOL, calling himself Tempus!" Amy squealed. "Two thumbs up!"

...

**- To be continued...**

...

A/N: Long one, isn't it? It might be a while for me to get back to my Harry fics. Though I have no intention of letting _those_ die off, else how am I going to cross _them_ over with this madness?

Let us take a moment to review the sides here. On the one hand, we have a paper-work happy, drill-sergeant-from-hell, overkill-loving ten year-old Magical Girl Green Lantern and her Amazing Allies. These Amazing Allies include: the ultimate Dark Magical Girl; a technically Dark Magical Boy; Ferret Lantern, aka Nanoha's male counterpart in everything (offense magic versus Defense/Support Magic); the most experienced Magical Girl Team in the Country, who specialize in fighting Energy Drainers, have magic that mainly lean towards the Fire-and-Forget big bang school, a character I am personally going to try and Badass up without going as extreme as Tomoyo (yes, I admit I overdid her, _just_ a little. But it's fun, so she stays), and might (?) be able to resurrect if it goes really bad; Ala _frickin'_ Alba, who consist of the trained-byEvangeline-and-_RAKAN!_ Legacy badass Negi Springfield, Badass Princess (because everything's better with Princesses) Kagurazaka 'Magic-Canceller-with-overly-long-real-name' Asuna, and most of the spectrum of badass from librarians to healers; part of the cast of Fate/Stay Night who will get their own upgrades before long, but are already lethal by themselves (the crossover comic puts young Nanoha as impressed by Miyu and Illya's firepower. _Consider_ that. Little Miss Gundam Wing Zero was _impressed!_); Card Mistress Sakura, and by extension Hellmode Tomoyo and anyone and anything she can buy beg, steal, or borrow; and the superhero teams of Super Young Team, Big Science Action, Superman and a hidden Cassandra Cain (Doe). Notice that on this list, Superman is an _afterthought_. Plus the _goddamned_ _**BATMAN**_ is in the country…

Arrayed against them are the Wolkenritter: four kinds of fetish fu– er, Magic Knights, in the service of a terminally ill little girl who ranks high on the goodness and light scale(Sound Stages not withstanding), who seems to be just genuinely happy that she's not going to die alone anymore (there's a definite sense of this to me). Said knights also just want to live the way they've been living, in blissful happiness with Hayate. Arrayed against them are the above, a group who would be overkill for Cosmo Entelecheia, who in their turn are a group whose standard equipment can include Reality Warping Weapons _as a standard issue_ (hey, Tsukuyomi got her hands on one). All the Knights have is experience (admittedly a _lot_), their devices (and unlike Nanoha, they probably _don't_ have repair facilities, since Shamal can only do so much), a method of creating troops that are, admittedly, just glorified cannon fodder, and unwavering love and devotion to their cause and to Hayate (which is practically the same thing).

What does Narrative Causality say?

Chisame. Beautiful Net Idol Chiu-sama by day, Magical Girl net hero The Calculator by night! It was a name too good to give to a villain…

Been on a HayatexVita kick for some reason. Size-compatibility issues. Maybe I shouldn't check out the doujin-moes when I write. This overlaps with my YuunoxVita kick, my YuunoxHayate kick, my YuunoxShamal kick, my YuunoxSignum kick, my ArfxZafira kick and my weird Ring-chanxRaging Heart kick.

In a bit of throw away dialogue, it is mentioned how Signum likes baths. Not sure what the fandom position on that is, but I decided to grab it and– how did I put it in my other fic? Ah, yes– run off with it beyond the bounds of reason and sense. So, pretty much business as usual for me. From what I've seen of the anime, Hayate doesn't seem as perverted as people make her out to be. Sure, I read the A's Manga, but I didn't take any of the 4-komas seriously. I heard it's also revealed in the sound stages, but which one?

It probably says something bad about me that I like to use Vita for the racy scenes…

There's no reason why Tuxy didn't get a sword-cane at some point. I'm filling under 'because it's cool!'. It actually makes more sense than him just having a generic cane. I don't think of him as generally useless, myself. Think about it. He's usually busier than the girls, what with having to support himself and being in college. The reason it takes him so long to get to a fight is because not only is he likely to be coming from somewhere it's not easy to slip away from, he also probably has to _run_ all the way to where the fight is. The fact that he usually appears so soon after a fight starts (after all, he's usually there anywhere between five and ten minutes), even if only just I time to say something encouraging or pull of a timely rescue, is actually pretty darn impressive. I intend to do what I can to elevate him to proper levels of badass. He probably also has a lot of issues I'd like to explore, _**Of Love and Bunnies**_-style…

Yes, I overused the word 'Freudian'. To be fair, they are all in relevant locations.

...

**A Dark Path To The Kingdom: The Death of a Heroic Spirit, Berserker.**

...

"NO!" Illya cried, dropping Magical Ruby as she ran to her fallen Servant's side. "Berserker! Berserker, don't die! You can't die! You're a hero! HEROES DON'T DIE!"

"Of… c-course we d-do," a quiet voice said from beneath Berserker's helmet, quite unlike the hate-filed molten gravel of his usual snarling. "How else do we become h-heroes?"

"Berserker!" Illya exclaimed. "You're… how… no, don't talk! Stay still! We'll get you help! Batman-sama, help him!"

"N-no," Berserker said, weakly. His voice was soft now, not terror incarnate. "I remember this. Death is coming for me again, Illya. She is coming…"

"Berserker…" Illya sobbed, trying to support the enormous Servant's head on her lap, trying to do what she could to make him comfortable. "I… I don't even know your name…"

Berserker's head shifted slightly, and the shadows changed shape enough that one could almost say they'd seen a smile. "Does it matter now?"

"Please…" Illya said softly, dashing at her eyes with her arm. "Please, tell me your name. Tell me so I can remember you… tell me what you were called in life…"

"I…" Berserker said hesitantly, voice weak. "I'm not sure it was ever my n-name to begin with."

"Please, a name, anything!" Illya cried. "Someone needs to remember… you're owned that much. Who are you, my Berserker? What were you called in life?"

"I… I…"

"Yes?" Illya breathed.

"I was the terror that soared through the darkened skies…"

"Berserker…" Illya said, touching his helm, feeling the horns digging into her legs.

"I was the law from the shadows…"

She could feel him growing weaker, felt their contract breaking, the Command Seal about to become useless.

"I was darkness. I was justice. I was vengeance," Berserker said quietly, some of his old strength and gravel returning even as his Grail-given life flowed away. "I was the night. I… was… w-was… B-b–…" A shudder went through him and he lay still.

Illya's tears fell like rain as she cradled his face, shaking her head in denial. "No…" she muttered. "No… no… no…! _**BERSERKER!**_"

The Dark Knight Detective watched, still as death, silent witness to a young girl's pain and the end of a hero…

...

**End…?**

...

ATTENTION! ACHTUNG! I have taken the beautiful Trope-tan hostage! Give TV Tropes to me and she won't get hurt! If you refuse… well, I still have the Overfiend, Great Paru-sama Edition…

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Next, on Green Lantern Nanoha! Who will prevail, Signum or Tuxedo Kamen? How will Fate react when she learns her battle-girlfriend has been cheating on her? Nanoha faces off against the Knights without Raging Heart! How will she fare? Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off!


	12. Counterattack and Annihilation

A/N: Hi again to:** Jorlem, Drakensis, Paladindythe, yesilmavi, Rob Kelk, Florin, Stephen Mann, Foxboy, Necratoid,** **LilFluff, Bob Schroeck, sweno,** **blackaeronaut, Acyl, Manytales00, nocarename, Timote, werehawk, Cobalt Greywalker, M Fnord, CattyNebulart**.

...

Takamachi Nanoha of 2814

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 12: The Linker Cores War, Part 6: Counterattack and Annihilation

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story. If I did… well, this would all be canon. WARNING: MAY CAUSE HEAD EXPLOSION!

...

In the sky above Juuban, Vita and the masked TSAB boy dueled.

That is to say, they _would_ be dueling in the sky above Juuban if you defined the sky as 'twenty feet off the ground'.

This was actually Vita's doing. Much as conventional wisdom dictated that altitude was key when you had the ability to fly, and the more of it the better, Vita knew this wasn't one of these times. If she allowed herself to be goaded into fighting at a higher altitude, the mage– really, what kind of stupid-ass name was 'Tempus'?– could be indiscriminate with his attacks without having to worry about hurting anyone who wasn't Vita. If she kept the fight at a low altitude, she'd limit the usefulness of flight, allowing her to close in, where she could do the most damage. Press him down long enough, and the Servants would be able to grab him.

She kept this little bit of strategy firmly in mind as she relentlessly tried to bash the boy's head in. the boy wasn't as fast as that scythe-using girl from that night, but he knew how to use what he had, moving his body just enough to be out of the way and always ready with a deliberate riposte when she sometimes overextended herself, briefly forcing her on the defensive and at times nearly driving her skyward. Her enemy was coldly methodical, eyes blankly white in their mask as they fought, face never shifting from iron determination.

Sankt Kaiser, he pissed her off. Her body ached from their initial clash, but she'd been able to dodge the brunt of his attack. Graf Eisen had slammed square into his weapon, but it was obviously made of sterner, if dumber stuff than the green girl's had.

_Hey, a little backup here? _she called out, as she dodged another of the mage's Break Impulses.

_Busy at the moment!_ Signum snapped, sounding strangely irritable. _Again with the roses! Take __**this**__, yo–_

_What is it, Vita? _Zafira said smoothly as all the Avengers below simultaneously roared, and there was a shift in the chaos below at ground level. The guardian beast was trying to loose himself momentarily in the chaos to give himself time to talk to Vita.

_We need to grab one last target, at least!_ Vita said as she lashed out with one foot, only to be blocked by the mage's staff. Graf Eisen's groin attack was similarly blocked, with much more haste, leaving the mage wide open for a head-butt. Vita took shameless advantage. _Keep the others busy, I'll try to go for the crazy woman screaming about planets._

_Well, I'll see if I can pencil it into my busy schedule, _Zafira said sarcastically, even as Vita followed through with a second unblocked groin attack. The mage's eyes crossed as he lost altitude, falling on top of the green-haired girl making water sculptures that tore things apart. _Nice aim._

_Of course!_ Vita said smugly, having had no idea what they'd been above of. _I'm_ _going in_.

As there was a brief deathmatch to introduce the dropper to the droppee, Vita held Graf Eisen in both hands in a guard position and hoped she didn't have her head crushed in…

...

Signum was starting the consider the possibility that maybe, _just_ maybe, Vita might have a point about getting Hayate somewhere else.

"You are an infinitely aggravating man," Signum said evenly to the tuxedo-clad figure in front of her. Then, since at some point in the distant, distant past her mother had raised her to be a good girl, she added, "And a worthy opponent. I believe it might be difficult for me to defeat you without killing you."

A small smile twitched on the corner of her opponent's mouth, next to a shallow cut she'd put there. "You know, that's the first time anyone's ever said that to me. We'll have to give this event an anniversary."

Her own lips twitched too. Then they were back to trying to tear each other apart, Laevatein's blade meeting cane-sword and cane-sheath in another blurring exchange. Although Signum knew she was faster, Laevatein's size and mass worked against her in this fight, her opponent's lighter weapons allowing him to move more dexterously, and with more precision. As it was, she was sporting a lot of small cuts along the outside of her arms. He wasn't fairing well, either, though, Laevatein's greater reach having done it's work. Aside from the cut on his cheek, something she'd needed to pull lest she _really_ go against Hayate's wishes and kill someone, she'd manage to tag his arms, as well as three shallow cuts on his torso. Most of it he'd been able to deflect with that damned cape of his. How the heck had he jumped like that in those pants, not to mention those shoes?

Still, it didn't matter. She wasn't that badly hurt, and blood-loss wouldn't be _too_ big an inconvenience to her. Everything was going according to plan. Just a little longer, and it wouldn't matter if the TSAB showed up.

She _really_ should have taken Vita's call…

...

The Time Key and Graf Eisen slammed into each other, the two vaguely phallic weapons battling for dominance in a symbolic and homoerotic manner. Around them, Vita's Berserkers did what they could to keep the Senshi and Super Young Team back as Sailor Uranus's howl of sudden rage echoed through the air.

"Fall already, darn it!" Vita swore, trying to take what advantage of the height difference she could and attack Sailor Pluto's legs. She was _not_ going to fail here, darn it! This was for Hayate-chan! "Drop already!"

"No," Sailor Pluto answered coldly, drop-sweeping Vita's feet out from under her. The knight rolled, adding another tumble and managing to get her head from being crushed in. Vita kicked her way to her feet as she blocked the woman's following strike, grabbing the time key in that moment's pause and suing it as leverage to swing herself inside the woman's guard, slamming her knee into the Senshi's gut. Sailor Pluto grunted, doubling over, but didn't relent, suddenly pulling the Time Key close and trapping Vita against herself. "Everyone, I have her! Fire at will!"

"Pluto–!" some of the Senshi behind the wall of enemies cried.

"DO IT!" Sailor Pluto cried even as Vita struggled to get free, one fist slamming itself repeatedly into Sailor Pluto's kidneys, the other holding Graf Eisen trapped between them. "NOW!"

"But–!"

"Stinger Blade! Execution Shift!"

"_Are you crazy?-!_"

The mass of blades tore though the wall of Servants, a quarter of them down for the count, while the rest were merely inconvenienced by lost limbs and parts of their heads being cut off. They streaked towards the locked pair. Vita, panicked, slammed her foot into the inside of Sailor Pluto's knee. There was a sharp crack, and Sailor Pluto gave a cry of pain, her grip loosening. Vita, both arms now free, spun Sailor Pluto around, crouching beneath her and using her as a shield. The blades wavered at the last minute, many diverting in a circle around the two. Some weren't able to divert in time, slamming into Sailor Pluto, who let out another cry. A few clipped Vita's arms, drawing blood.

"Light's out," Vita said, slamming Graf Eisen into the side of Sailor Pluto's head, knocking her out. "Zafira!"

"Here!" the guardian beast said, loping to her side. His form rippled, shifting into his humanoid form, also masked, "Steel Yoke!"

White spikes rose, the semi-immaterial blades phasing through people's legs, locking them in place. Phantom pain from magically disrupted nerves screamed through them as the Servants charged, keeping them pinned. Vita flicked open the Book of Darkness. "Begin download!"

Sailor Pluto screamed again…

...

The air wavered as Yuuno and Arf Transferred them into Earth from the Dimensional Sea. They'd caught up with Nanoha only a few seconds ago, and already she was rushing to fly to the scene of the battle, eyes determined.

"Shouldn't we be going after her?" Arf said as she supported Negi, with Fate on his other side.

Yuuno, focused on his ring, shook his head. "Not yet. Wait for it…"

A moment later, Nanoha was back. "Um, did they say where the emergency was?" she said, blushing in embarrassment.

Arf and Fate both face-palmed. Negi screamed as he was dropped. He bounced off the trampoline that Nanoha made, which then raised him back up to conversation level.

Yuuno allowed himself a small smile. "Sailor Mercury's still online. She says the Wolkenritter have drained three of them. Chrono's there– at least, it sounds like Chrono– but there was a little misunderstanding because he fell on Shiny Happy Aquazon. Hilarity Ensued. I'm transmitting you the location."

"Received," Ring-chan said.

Nanoha flew off, knocking several clouds out of the way.

"Enthusiastic girl," Arf commented.

"Thank goodness I'm no longer on the receiving end," Fate agreed.

Negi screamed as his trampoline disappeared, and Yuuno caught him in a giant butterfly net. "Ah, Yuuno-san," Negi said as he tried to balance himself. "Can I ask you for a favor?"

"Huh?" Yuuno said.

"I'm going to need different clothes…"

...

A cartridge was ejected from Laevatein. Flame burst into existence around the weapon as Signum made one last attack. "_Hiryu Issen!_"

"Manhole cover!" Tuxedo Kamen countered.

The area around the his feet was torn apart by the fire attack while his thrown manhole cover slammed straight into Signum's gut, sending both flying back. They managed to land on their feet, still facing each other. Signum's wounds had clotted, but there were a lot more of them now, and a rose-stem was still stuck in her leg. Tuzedo Kamen's cape was in tattered all along it's edge, and his top hat had a long cleave down the middle from where Signum had nearly finished him off. Both knees of his trousers were out, and there was blood on his gloves, which still held both parts of his cane ready to attack.

"It looks like we'll be at this all day," Signum panted, a touch of eagerness to her.

"No, just until everyone else realizes you're isolated from all your backup and are an easy target," Tuxedo Kamen said, also panting slightly. He grinned at Signum's suddenly flat look. "I'd yell to get their attention, but that doesn't seem fair, somehow. Plus you'd probably take the time to shove that sword down my throat."

"Such a gentleman," she said dryly. "Are you always so nice to women?"

He tilted his head slightly. "Between you and me?" he said, voice low and inviting confidence. Signum wasn't such an idiot that she leaned closer in any way. "I must really thank you for this fight. It has been an extremely frustrating few years. I was _this_ close to almost becoming a misogynist. You have helped relieve a lot of pressure."

"So glad to be helpful," she said, lunging for one of his legs. He whirled again, movement's obscured by his distracting and ridiculously billowy cape. She changed tactics in mid-attack, slashing at the cape and there was a brief ring of resistance, and he stumbled slightly, cape slightly wrapped around him and beginning to deflate.

_Signum, I believe we have overstayed our welcome,_ Zafira's voice suddenly said, and it was only uncountable years of combat experience that kept her from losing her stride. _Recommend we withdraw now. The TSAB is here. The Green Lantern child can't be far behind. _

_The TSAB? Why didn't you tell me sooner?-! _Signum snapped back as Tuxedo Kamen's sword cane suddenly stabbed through the cape at her, and she parried it aside with her armored forearm. A knee struck Laevatein, knocking it aside, there was a tearing and another whirl, and a pair of roses flew out of the mess, one clipping her bicep and aggravating a wound already there, the other getting caught in one of her puffy shoulder pads.

_You said you were busy. Something about roses, _Zafira said innocently. _Do you need someone to help you get away from your new boyfriend?_

_He is __**not**__ my boyfriend!_ Signum snapped. She lashed out with a sweeping kick, which he met with his own, and there was a confused moment of the two of them trying to pull each other off their feet. They both gave up in disgust and resumed trying to stab each other.

_De-ni-al!_ Vita sang, and it was never more apparent she was a child then now, when her mental voice managed to rise to that annoying pitch.

_Vita, how would you like it if I beat you to the bathroom in the morning from now on?_ Signum said as darted back, swinging Laevatein in a wide vertical arc that tore up the street and sending a small cloud of dust flying.

_... Bitch_

_That's Fuhrer Bitch to you,_ she said as she shot up into the air, landing on the lampshade of a streetlight. "It's over, warrior," she said as the cloud of dust was dispersed by Tuxedo Kamen's cape. "I have the high ground. We have achieved our objective. This battle is decided."

"Pardon me for not letting it lie at that," Tuxedo Kamen said, twirling the sheath in his left hand absently. "But my girlfriend would be disappointed in me if I simply ceased making an effort." He threw the sheath underhanded, and even as Signum raised Laevatein to deflect it, he whirled, cutting the streetlamp clean through, the metal edges orange-hot and slightly melted as the structure collapsed. Tuxedo Kamen drew back, weight on his ear leg as he readied to lunge–

Signum raised her eyebrow at him from where she floated. "I _can_ fly, you know," she said.

He glared at her. "You had to ruin a perfectly good dramatic response, didn't you?"

"I am not interested in drama," she said coolly. "Only our objective."

"Which was?" he said, as he stood up straight to keep from looking like an idiot.

"We have drained the Linker Cores we need from your friends," she said, and watched as his eyes grew cold and angry. "It wasn't your fault. You did very well, occupying my attention, or else we might have gotten more. These girls aren't very disciplined."

There was a non-committal grunt. "One of us will stop you," Tuxedo Kamen said, twirling his sword-cane and eyeing her appraisingly, as if he was debating on whether to take a chance and throw it as well. "You can't evade justice forever. We _will_ stop you."

Signum raised her blade in salute. "But until then…" she said, and turned to fly away.

A rose flew, lodging in one of the exhaust holes on Laevatein's cartridge ejector.

"I will kick your ass next time," Tuxedo Kamen said as she paused to look at him, tugging out the flower. "But until then…" He bowed.

There was a sound behind him and he turned. Sabers stalked towards him in various states of disrepair, many still armed with their blades. A grim smile played on his lips. "Hello, misplaced aggression…"

He attacked.

...

Signum flew into the air, soon followed by Vita and Zafira. They dodged the attacks sent their way, and Vita's hammer mercilessly struck the shrunken winged-human who tried to follow them up into painful unconsciousness.

"Zafira, bring down the barrier," Signum said tiredly. "Let's go home. Hayate-chan wa saying she was planning to make stew."

The three paused for a moment, all thinking the same thing. _Hmm, Hayate-chan's stew…_

Zafira grinned, mouth slightly watering, and raised his hand to disperse the barrier they'd raised. It faded away and proper colors returned to the sky. "Home free…"

There was a ripple, and suddenly another barrier snapped up into place.

"What the hell?" Vita cried.

"_Stinger Blade! Execution Shift!_"

Zafira threw the two women behind him as he raised up a barrier, trying to shield them from the worst of the blast.

"Surrender!" the masked TSAB agent, code name Tempus, cried, Device pointed at them in the classical 'angry wizard about to make merry hell' pose. "We have you surrounded! Resistance is futile!"

Vita blinked at him. "He's already up after getting kicked in the nuts?" Zafira winced, almost crossing his legs in sympathy even as he flexed his muscle to get rid of some stinger blades lodged in them. "What's this boy made of?"

"I AM A **MAN!**" Tempus cried. "BLAZE CANNON!"

An enormous burst of fire exploded from the end of the Device, the knights scattering to avoid it. Even then, they were caught in the heat bloom of the spell, sending them tumbling through the air. They righted themselves, Vita tucking the Book away for safety. "HAH!" she taunted. "That the best you've got?"

"Emerald Stinger Blade," a voice called from above them. "Execution Shift!"

About a hundred green energy blades hit them in the back.

"AHH!" Vita cried in pain as the impacts stuck her from behind. She whirled, Graf Eisen ready to attack. "What the hell?"

Green Lantern floated above them, her green and black dress a sharp contrast to her appearance the last time they'd seen her. Corps symbols glowed a spectral green against her black skirts, and the green construct staff she held faded even as they watched. Her gaze was determined behind her mask. Her eyes glowed with neon radiance.

"Servants of the Book of Darkness!" she declared. "I am the Green Lantern of Earth and Space Sector 2814! As a duly appointed freelance law-enforcement agent of Japan, you are under arrest for several counts of assault, destruction of property, vandalism, littering, malicious mischief, and assaulting an officer, namely, ME! And there might be other charges!"

"Heh!" Vita said, sneering. "I kicked your little green ass last time, glowrod! What makes you think I won't do it again?"

"Because she's not alone!" a cry from a nearby building rang.

Fate Testarossa stood dramatically on the building's highest point, her hand thrust into the air. Arf and Ferret Lantern flanked her, all glaring up at the knights. "Bardiche Assault!"

...

_Meanwhile, down below…_

"You know, these are a lot less squicky-looking than the Dark Kingdom Youma that I remember," Tuxedo Kamen commented casually, back to back with Sailor Mercury and Shiny Happy Aquazon. "Remember those? They made that Sadako character look pretty. I mean, ick."

"The Dark Kingdom ones were always rush jobs," Sailor Mercury commented. "Really just something they put together cheaply to try and drain humans. These seem to have been built with more attention to detail and effort. I mean, the one has most of its head gone, and it's still moving."

Shiny Happy Aquazon impaled with a spear of water. It twitched but kept on trying to move. "Would you stop geek-gasming over these things and help me put them down!" she snapped.

"Jovis Tempestas Fulguriens!"

A concentrated spiral of blazing electric energy lanced down diagonally from the sky, vaporizing many of the Servants around them and turning the rest into char. Negi Springfield landed lightly in front of them, now wearing something he wasn't embarrassed to be seen in. The Magia Erebea-limiting Opera Gloves wrapped around his arms, as he stood clad in a version of his vaguely Ranma-reminiscent fighting outfit, except this one had a long, fluttering tail that had no purpose except to flutter dramatically, essentially serving as an ass-cape, ring-reconfigured from his previous girly clothes. A silver ring wrapped around one finger, the Ring-wand Chamo had been able to finally find for him, hidden in Setsuna's underwear drawer (the experience had apparently left the ermine highly traumatized, muttering about 'nothing but bike shorts'). A green domino mask was on his face, obscuring his features.

"Sailor Mercury-san! Tuxedo Kamen-san! Shiny Happy Aquazon-san! Are you all right?" he asked them, back to them and crouched in a ready stance. This way he didn't notice the girl's looks.

"We're fine, um… uh, what exactly are you calling yourself? I notice you're wearing a mask…?" Tuxedo Kamen said when it was apparent the girls wouldn't be saying anything.

Negi nodded in acknowledgement. "Call me Magus Erebus. We need to get everyone to regroup! If we remain separated, we won't be able to concentrate our fire on this things. Without the servants of the Book of Darkness to direct them, they seem to be attacking randomly, without strategy or support. We need to get word to the others. Can Sailor Mercury contact them while we hold them off her?"

Silence. "She can," Tuxedo Mask said for the mutely staring Senshi.

Negi nodded. "Please watch my back," he said. "Melodia Bellax!" He cast, charging into the fray, Sagitta Magica already forming around him for his Mahou-Ken techniques.

Shiny Happy Aquazon stared at Negi's form. "Sugoi!" she squealed. "That. Was. HOT!"

"Oh, my…" Sailor Mercury agreed.

"You realize the kid's about eleven, right?" Tuxedo Kamen said.

"So?"

"Just making sure."

"So… manly…" Sailor Mercury whispered. Tuxedo Kamen felt offended. All these years, and he'd never even…!

He cracked his knuckles. "Right. You two call everyone, we _men_ will kill things to keep them away from you."

For the first time in years, he felt he might actually enjoy getting into a fight…

...

"A cartridge system…?" Vita said, staring at Fate's upgraded Bardiche. "MEGAMANNING COPYCAT!"

Green Lantern frowned at her. "Why are you trying to complete the Book of Darkness? More importantly, why are you trying to complete the Book of Darkness _now_? You've obviously been on Earth for a some time. You were probably here for the Jewel Seeds. Why did you let _those_ go by and only started taking Linker Cores recently?"

"How do _you_ know how long I've been on Earth?" Vita snapped up at Green Lantern.

"You've been here long enough to dig deep enough into TvTropes to find the Megamanning page," Ferret Lantern pointed. "Granted, that doesn't take all that long, depending on where you start, but first you'd have need to _find_ the website, which means you know how to use the internet, which means you have free time to do so…"

"Oh, shut up!" Vita cried.

"We don't want to have to fight you!" Fate said. "This doesn't have to lead to violence! Just tell us, why do you want to complete the Book of Darkness?"

Vita crossed her arms, trying to ignore her injuries and putting up an indifferent front, trusting her teammates to watch her back. "You know, we have a saying in Belka," she said.

_Oh, not that old joke again,_ Signum groaned. _You always get the punch line wrong!_

Vita ignored her. "'If you're an emissary of peace, don't carry a spear'," she continued. "Even though you say you want to talk, you came armed and attacked us first, moron! You idiot!"

"Sorry, did we get your customs wrong?" Green Lantern said, a little saccharine sarcasm in her words. "I thought that was how you people greeted each other. After all, wasn't that what you did to me?"

"Ooh, BURN!" Arf said.

Chrono and Signum's eyes met, and even through their respective masks, opposing sides, and enmity, their thoughts were perfectly clear: _I am surrounded by idiots. Yes, I feel your pain. No, I'll still kick your ass._

"This is your final warning!" Green Lantern cried. "Will you come quietly? Or will we have to use force?"

Graf Eisen extended, and Vita slapped a couple of cartridges into empty slots. "I kicked you ass already. I'll do it again."

"I was unprepared and overconfident last time," Green Lantern said, her left hand clenching tight. "Bring it on."

"Hey, can't we try talking and getting to know each other and finding out the whole picture before we commit to an inescapable cycle of revenge?" Ferret Lantern said timidly. "Because I really don't want to be a poor communications kill!"

"Violence is the only answer!" Vita cried. Ferret Lantern slumped when he saw Green Lantern make no response except to look more determined.

Everything stood poised for a dramatic moment. Then everyone blurred in a flying fireworks display of colorful violence!

...

Most of the Sailor Senshi had almost become useless.

"Look at those moves…" Sailor Jupiter said as she finished sending a half-hearted blast of lightning at the Servants that were now on one end of the street.

"Such focus and concentration…" Sailor Mars fluttered.

"So **handsome**…!" Sailor Venus gushed.

"Come to mama…" Crazy Shy Lolita Canary agreed.

Well-Spoken Sonic Lightning Flash stared at them as he finished putting down the last of the unconscious Outers. "He's about eleven," he pointed out, confused.

"So? I'd tap that…" Sailor Uranus said dreamily.

The other Senshi blinked and stared at her, mouths hanging open. A beat later, she blinked herself. "Did… I just _say_ that?" she said.

The others mutely nodded.

"About a _guy._"

More nods.

"Who's… kinda young…"

Nods again.

Sailor Uranus wrung her hands guiltily. "Um, can you _not_ tell…"

Of course, nods. Sailor Uranus could have kissed them. The thought did not help her guilt.

Crazy Shy Lolita Canary and Well-Spoken Sonic Lightning Flash exchanged confused looks at the byplay as the Senshi went back to watching Neg– er, Magus Erebus– go at it.

"Remember the olden days when we first fought these things?" Sailor Venus said.

"Sailor Moon's skirt was still blue," Sailor Mercury recalled, looking down at her own skirt.

"No funky shoulder pads for anyone," Sailor Jupiter added. "Just Those accordion things."

"Moon's attacks were less embarrassing to be around…" Sailor Mars sighed wistfully.

At the reminder, they all launched some attacks, clearing a bunch of the enemy.

"Remember the crazy ideas the Dark Generals had?" Sailor Jupiter said.

"Evil bakery…" Sailor Venus recalled.

"Evil fortune teller…" Sailor Mars said.

"Evil teachers…" Sailor Mercury sighed.

"So… same tactics as all the ones we've been there to fight with you?" Sailor Uranus said.

"Well, except for the fact they lasted about a day or two when pulling off their evil plans, pretty much," Sailor Mars said.

"We used to be able to combine our attacks with Sailor Moon," Sailor Venus sighed. "Remember that Frisbee of death she used to have?"

"Made by throwing her tiara," Sailor Mars said, nodding in remembrance. "And she had a sonic attack based on how loudly she screamed in terror. I used to think that was a pretty silly attack." Sigh. "Recent years have proven me wrong."

"Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss," Sailor Mercury said with a straight face.

"I miss the lightsaber Frisbee…" Sailor Mars moaned.

"A little help here?-!" Tuxedo Kamen cried. "If you don't mind?"

They blasted.

...

Once, Hayate-chan had watched an old American movie about a big fish with them. Vita thought it was kind of hokey. After all, was it _really_ that hard to kill one stupid fish? Sure, it killed some people, but it was obviously a predator. The panic was all out of proportion, and the effects were overdone. Really, nearly pulling a boat underwater and then biting it to pieces? Putting a tank of compressed air in its mouth and shooting the tank to make it explode?

Vita had thought it was silly at the time, but doable, but Hayate's favorite American show, the one on before 'Trope-tan Organization the TV', with those two guys with the beret and the one who liked to reject reality had proven that it was impossible, although that thing with the sawdust looked like fun.

Vita had still enjoyed the movie though, mainly because Hayate-chan spent the latter parts of it curled up against her, holding her arm tight and trying to keep her feet off the floor, for fear of it getting bitten off. Plus Hayate-chan had insisted on doing the same for all the sequels…

Now, however, Vita was finding that maybe Hayate-chan wasn't so silly for being afraid.

"GAH!" Vita cried as she dodged the giant hundred meter green shark that dived up at her with jaws wide open. It's teeth were whirring chainsaws, and Vita could see all the way down it's throat which was a nightmare of spinning cutting rings. "ARE YOU INSANE?-!"

"I'm a Green Lantern!" the girl riding on the shark's back by holding on to its dorsal fin cried as if that were an explanation. "If I win this fight, tell my why you're doing this, okay?-! I'll need it for my report!"

"If you think you can win, you're welcome try!" Vita cried, before her eyes widened in panic again and she dodged frantically to avoid the open mouth of death. "GAH!"

"Bruce-kun, circle for another attack!" Green Lantern cried.

"This isn't _fair_!" Vita complained.

Signum was having to deal with Fate and Tempus.

"You're hurt," Fate said as scythe met sword.

"What was your first clue?" Signum said flatly. "The blood, the holes in my armor, or the fact I have a rose hanging off my shoulder?" She spun in an axis only professional acrobats and athletic superheroes knew about, her foot striking Song To You, pushing Tempus back slightly.

"It was the one in your leg, actually," Fate said, going for an underhand cut, Bardiche's new frilly scythe wings making it look like the firefly of death. Signum blocked it with Laevatein's sheath, shamelessly stealing Tuxedo Kamen's tactics and wondering if she could get Hayate to make her a cape. Using the scythe as an axis point, she angled herself and attacked the TSAB agent, trying to keep him from using any spells.

Tempus blocked, light already gathering around his Device. "Break Impulse!" he cried, thrusting the Device like a spear. Signum hooked her leg around Fate's forearm, using her body as a fulcrum and pulling the surprised blonde into the path of the attack.

"Defenser!" Fate cried, the shield snapping into place. Tempus tried to divert his attack, but his thrust had been too good, and it slammed into the shield at an angle. The shield broke, but it slowed down the strike enough for Fate to angle herself out of the way, avoiding the worst of the strike but getting clipped on the leg. She let out a hiss of pain as the makings of a large bruise appeared on her thigh. For some reason, she found herself thinking of her mother.

"While I would normally enjoy an encounter such as this with you, Testarossa," Signum said, "I have just had a really long day and would like nothing better than to leave and watch some 'Trope-tan Organization', maybe take a bath. I have no time to waste today."

"Tough!" Tempus said, righting Fate and interposing his body between the two women as Fate recovered herself. "We have all day."

Signum, her body aching, stinging and pounding with several versions and variations on the theme of pain, growled at him.

"Sexy Arf PUNCH!" Arf cried as her fist streaked towards Zafira, only to meet his crossed arms head-on.

Ferret Lantern, her back-up, stopped dead in mid-air, then face-palmed. "Oh, for crying… what happened to the devoted familiar who was completely Fate-centric?"

"I started hanging around you people," Arf replied with a grin, before she pivoted, her foot lashing out. "Furry Spirit KICK!"

"Hey, could you slow down?" Ferret Lantern said. "How am I suppose to back you up if I might accidentally hit you with anything I try?"

"Beast King Fist!" Zafira countered.

"Sexy Arf Boot to the Head!" Arf counter-countered.

"Falcon Punch!" Zafira counter-counter-countered.

"Homoerotic Thousand Years of Pain!" Arf counter-counter-counter-countered.

Ferret Lantern sighed. "I'll just go and see if Green Lantern needs any help, shall I?" he said.

They ignored him.

He sighed, muttering about getting Seven Arced. "So, um… I'll just check the perimeter, see if their master or that fourth person Sa– er, the one the Card Mistress found is hanging around or anything, okay? Okay? Hey, Fate is actually in love with Nanoha! No one listening? Oh, well…"

...

Shamal stood behind a window on the topmost floor of a building. The room she was in was an office, it's occupant evacuated once the alert about monsters had been released. True, the Servants and Senshi and assorted beings had disappeared once the barrier had been raised, but Tokyo knew enough to know that didn't count for much.

_There's not much I can do on my own, _Shamal transmitted as she looked out the window into the barrier. _The Bureau's mages are outside maintaining the barrier from the outside. I can't destroy it with my magic alone. I'll have to use the Book…_

_Grr…_ Signum replied in frustration. Obviously, she was fighting, and obviously , she wasn't enjoying it. _I don't like it. It was bad enough we needed to expend its energy to create the Jadeite Servants. I don't want us to start recklessly expending its energy whenever we face a difficulty. _

_What choice do we have?_ Zafira said. _This sexy, big boobed familiar of theirs with the crazy hot legs and cute fangs is keeping me too busy to try and dismantle it myself. _There was a moment of silence. _Oh dear. I seem to have said that out loud. This is awkward._

_Vita, what do you say?_ Shamal asked.

_SANKT KAISER, SHE'S CHASING ME WITH GODZILLA! A __**FLYING**__ GODZILLA!_ Vita cried._ USE THE BOOK, USE THE BOOK, __**USE THE BOOK!**_

There was a brief pause. _Don't you mean 'Gojira', Vita-chan?_ Shamal asked.

_NO, IT'S THE AMERICAN ONE, GODZILLA, THE ONE THAT LOOKS LIKE A T-REX FROM HELL!_ Vita cried. _AHH! __**HOT HOT HOT! **__Oh now, what? Why is it turning into a… giant marshmallow man?_

_Don't cross the streams,_ Shamal advised. _If it asks if you're a god, say 'yes'._

_Shut up, blondie. AH! GOOP! THAT IS SO __**GROSS**__!_

_Is there something strange in your neighborhood?_ Shamal chirped. _Who ya gonna call?_

_Shamal,_ Signum's voice said with tried patience._ Just shut off the Hayate-damned barrier, will you?_

_GIANT ROBOT! __**GIANT ROBOT! IT'S A GIANT TRAIN ROBOT!**_

_And do so quickly for Vita's peace of min– HOLY HAYATE, THAT THING IS __**HUGE!**_

...

"Emerald Supertrain Megazord, fire all weapons!" Green Lantern cried from within the giant-giant robot's cockpit. "Target the red knight!"

"I HATE THIS PLANET!" Vita cried, dodging missiles and ion turbine blasts as Graf Eisen loaded cartridges.

"_Gigantform," _the Armed Device announced as it grew bigger.

"Gigant Crusher!" Vita cried as the weapon extended and expanded to a ridiculous degree while she swung it in an overhead attack at the enormous green robot.

It nimbly stepped to the side, the strike missing it completely and only leaving a big flat indentation on the ground. The robot raised it's hand up, touching it's 'nose' with it's 'thumb' and waggling its fingers at Vita. "Neener-neener!" was the cry from the pilot seat. "You missed!"

Graf Eisen swept to the side, knocking the robot over.

"AH! Sore loser!"

"CRAZY BITCH!"

"Am NOT! And what's a b–? Never mind, not important! Fall already!"

...

Shamal opened the Book of Darkness. Thankfully, it was now over the 400 page minimum activation requirement, and now could move around. "Book of Darkness…" she intoned. "Your Guardian, Shamal, orders you here and now to release yourpower to crush your enemies!"

Clouds began to gather as a large ball of crackling darkness began to congeal in the sky, purple lightning crackling around it. Down below, she could here people crying out in panic

"Fire! Annihilation Lightning!"

"_Geschrieben,_" the Book said.

A bolt of purple energy lanced down into the barrier. Ripples began to emanate from the point of impact. The sky seemed to be cracking as blue and black lances of energy lanced down from the impact point, looking strangely like Kirbian dots. Battles paused as combats stared up.

"Well, it looks like we'll have to continue this some other time, Testarossa," Signum panted. "You might want to work on getting behind something…"

"Signum!" Fate cried, panting at the injuries the knight had managed to inflict on her. Well, to be more precise, it was from the injuries Signum had been able to cause her and Tempus to inflict on each other. The masked boy glared at the knight, sporting several slashes resulting from Fate's scythe being redirected.

Vita and the Supertrain Megazord both paused as the knight and the pilot stared up into the sky. Vita looked at the phenomenon with something like relief, and gave the robot a look of grudging respect.

"I am Vita, the Iron Hammer Knight of the Wolkenritter," Vita announced. "Who are _you_?"

"I am the Green Lantern of Earth," Nanoha said from inside her robot. "And that's all you need to know."

Vita growled. "Asshole!" she cried. "We'll finish this later! Next time, I'll kill you! DEFINITELY!"

Green Lantern glared at her as she flew away, debating whether to send an energy construct to snare her regardless, but one look at the sky convinced her there were other things she needed to use Willpower for. "Ring-chan, power check!"

"Willpower at 21 percent," the ring replied.

"Eh? So low?"

"You haven't recharged since late yesterday afternoon and you've been creating large constructs," Ring-chan chided. "Be glad there's so much left."

Nanoha frowned, and called by Ring and Telepathy. Thankfully, she'd figured out how to send messages to people other than Yuuno, although it was still only to those she knew who had devices. Fate would just have to tell Arf. "Everyone, get into the Megazord!" she called to them, opening an access door and pointing at it with a big bunch of blinking arrows. "I'll do what I can to block the blast!"

She closed her eyes, feeling the Willpower in her ring reacting to the small amount that was inside her, could feel the slight warmth in her eyes as they glowed. She concentrated, reinforcing the massive construct she was in already, preparing a much larger shield. She looked up as she heard people enter, seeing her friends. "Yuuno-kun, I need you to transfer as much of your power as you can into my ring," she said holding out her left hand. Ring-chan wrapped around her middle finger. "Everyone else, I need you to do what you can to shield us while I get the Megazord into position."

"Position?" Chrono said, ripping off his mask in annoyance and suddenly becoming more recognizable as Chrono as the disguising magic was removed. "Why?"

Nanoha pointed as the screens in front of her changed displays, zooming in. "We also have to cover the Senshi," she said grimly.

...

The Sailor Senshi, Super Young Team, Tuxedo Kamen and Magus Erebus stared up at the incoming death from above.

"I am going to die a virgin," Tuxedo Kamen said, then added conscientiously, "Again."

"Here here," the Inners echoed him.

"You'd think we'd figure it out by now," Sailor Mercury said philosophically.

Negi frowned. "What's a virgin?"

The Emerald Supertrain Megazord stepped over them, arms crossed in defense.

Nanoha threw up her barriers, dozens of angled, multilayered constructs as the Annihilation Lightning came down, while behind her Arf and Yuuno cast their own defensive spells. The Lightning slammed into the first of them and tore them apart like they were cobwebs. Nanoha stared screaming as psychic backlash began to tear through her, but she kept her will and focus in place, keeping all the constructs as strong as she could and didn't waver, even as Arf, Yuuno, Fate and Chrono made what defensive spells they could. The Lightning kept slamming down, tearing the will-based constructs like they didn't exist. The Megazord was torn apart around Nanoha and her friends, her screams rising uncontrollably now as capillaries in her head broke and bled, as the Lightning struck the ground, and there was a blinding burst of purple-tinted light as a bubble-cloud of energy suddenly rose, erupting like a destroying wave.

Silence fell.

Nanaho collapsed to the ground, blood pouring from her nose, ears and the corners of her eyes as the others' shields faded, the platform Yuuno had barely been able to ring under them lowering them gently next to the stunned Sailor Senshi and company as the barrier began to disperse above them. Chrono had slapped his mask back on, and was calling for backup, saying they had wounded and drain victims. They stood on an uneven circle of relative untouched concrete as the Lightning deflected just a crucial miniscule bit by Nanoha's efforts.

Fate cried out as Nanoha fell, rushing towards the falling girl as Arf moved to shield her identity as best as she could. The blonde cradled the fallen Lantern, watching as the pinpoints of shining green light behind the eyeholes of her mask slowly winked out…

...

**- To be continued...**

...

A/N: This fic has it's own TvTropes Page! YAY! Perseverance paid off! _All according to plan…_

Signum and Vita both have _very_ phallic weapons. Shamal has very definitely _not_ phallic weapons. And Zafira has _no_ weapons. There's something to that, I just know it…

I've always gotten the feeling Fate could fly even without Bardiche. After all, she could do her costume changes without it…

Don't expect the girl-Negi jokes to end. Ranma's not in this story, but I never said anything about cursed springs! Hm, field of cursed springs, Springfield… a connection? Still, we're back to Negi Springfield, Lady Killer! Even the gays are straight for him!

Just Read Negima 297. Nagi's definitely an idiot. Kinda reminds me of some Naruto-as-a-dad fics. Arika kinda looks like Evangeline, though that might just be the drawing style. Also, serious tempted to add _**Iono the Fanatics**_ to this mess. Lesbian queen and her Lesbian concubine harem! WHOOT!

Jaws. The movie that turned a whole generation off bathing…

Here's a scary thought: Starlight Breaker Plus combined with Magia Erebea…

For some reason, I've been getting visions of Reinforced being summoned to battle by the Wolkenritter using Cool Shades, musical instruments, and Ominous Latin Chanting as they play 'One-Winged Angel', except the word 'Sephiroth' is replaced by 'Reinforce'. As follows:

...

**Omake: Black-Winged Angel!**

...

The Wolkenritter and Hayate all slipped on Cool Shades as they drew out their instruments, and proceeded to rock out!

"Estuans interius

ira vehementi

Estuans interius

ira vehementi

Reinforce!

Reinforce!

Estuans interius

ira vehementi

Estuans interius

ira vehementi

Reinforce!

Reinforce!"

A Belkan summoning circle opened above them as more Ominous Latin Chanting as Reinforce began to descend, dressed in full Sephiroth leather. She opened her eyes as the summoning came to it's climax.

"_**Reinforce! **_

_**Reinforce!" **_

"Hello, Clouds," she said, looking down at them. "Hello, mother."

"Praise be to mother!" Vita cried.

"All glory to mother!" Signum agreed.

Shamal spread her arms wide. "Group hug!"

Zafira sighed. "What am _I_, the motorcycles that get blown up?" he muttered sourly.

Hayate clenched her fist. "And now, it is time for… the Reunion!"

"Yes!" the others cried. "Time to see everyone again!"

...

**Omake 2: A Painful Betrayal!**

...

Fate stared at the pink-haired leader of the Wolkenritter, taking in her disheveled appearance. "Signum!" she cried indignantly. "You've been fighting someone, haven't you!-?"

Signum stared at her in panic, trying to dab the blood off her arms as she waved frantically. "No! It's not what you think, Fate-chan! I, uh, fell! Into some rose-bushes! Yes, that's it, rose bushes! It was all an accident!"

"LIAR!" Fate cried tearfully. "Admit it! You have another rival! Someone other than me! How could you, Signum?-! _How could you_?-!"

Signum's fist tightened, and she bowed her head. "Y-yes. I admit it. I've… been fighting someone else."

"I knew it!" Fate wailed. "Oh, Signum, how could you break a poor maiden's heart? I thought we had something special! Did all our violence and fighting mean nothing to you?"

"Of course it did!" Signum cried, holding her arms out beseechingly. "He meant nothing to me, I swear! It was just a one-act fight, nothing serious! I didn't even get his name! You're the only rival for me, Testarossa!"

"How can I believe you?-!" Fate snapped, tears still running down her face. "You've obviously been going around behind my back, fighting people left and right. How can I trust you again?"

"Testarossa…" Signum said despairingly, then firmed her resolved. "I'll show you how much you mean to me!" She drew out her sword and attacked Fate. "See? See, you're the only one I want to fight! Only you, Testarossa! You're my one, true rival!"

"Oh, Signum," Fate said, parrying with Bardiche and trying to gut the other girl. "I… I don't know if I can do it again… this heartache…"

"Believe in me, Testarossa!" Signum cried as she tried to set the girl on fire. "Feel my sword! It only wants to pierce our flesh! Yours is the only body it wants to enter!"

Fate broke. "Oh, Signum! I can't stay mad at you. I'll take you back, you cheating bitch!"

"Testarossa!" Signum cried happily as she tried to cleave the girl's head in.

"Signum!" Fate cried, trying to behead her.

"TESTAROSSA!" Signum exclaimed with tears in her eyes as she tried to put her sword into Fate.

"SIGNUM!" Fate called, going for her legs to cut them off.

"_TESTAROSSA!_"

"_SIGNUM!_"

...

**END!**

...

Please review, C&C welcome. Coming up NEXT! _Neon Genesis Evangeline A.K. McDowell_? Seriously? Watch as Earth is defended from the evil Darkfriendicons by giant techno-organic vampire mecha!

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	13. Vita–chan's Ero–Ero Purple Diaries!

_I am Vita, the Crimson Iron Rider. Iron Knight of the Wolkenritter ,the soldiers of Our Most Beloved Lady, the Queen of the Night Sky, Mistress of the Book of Darkness, Yagami Hayate. There is __**nothing**__ I cannot destroy. For our Hayate-chan. I would break the world a thousand times over. For our Hayate-chan, we would challenge the upstart gods who would claim to be her superior. For Hayate-chan, we would dry the oceans and turn all mountains to dust. For my Hayate-chan, I would wrest the stars from the sky for her to wear in her hair. For my beloved Hayate-chan, I would storm the heavens themselves so that she may have a throne worthy of her…_

_Sankt Kaiser, I sound like some kind of frickin' blood fetishist sparkly elf-wannabe._

_I hate this world! It's like everyone we meet, even those we're __**not**__ trying to steal the Linker Core of, is some kind of mage! The people the TSAB have evaluating these places are obviously on crack! This hole has giant monsters that stomp through its cities on a regular basis, insane genetic mutations flying around doing what-the-hell, and it's most public mages think it's a good idea to walk around wearing only enough cloth for a towel. _

_But this is Hayate-chan's home. This is her place. So we're going to stick it out. Our enemies are legion. Our battlefield, a madhouse. Yet all this we brave for the promise of our most beloved Hayate-chan's smile…_

...

Takamachi Nanoha of 2814

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 13: The Linker Cores War, Part 7: Enemy's Mind or 'Vita-chan's Ero-Ero Purple Diaries!'

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story. If I did… well, this would all be canon. WARNING: MAY CAUSE HEAD EXPLOSION! The phrase "blood fetishist sparkly elves" coined by **Ryuus2**. _**WARNING! THE FOLLOWING CHAPTER CONTAINS TROPE OVERLOAD, WANTON ABUSE OF THE COMMON EXCLAMATION POINT, ALLITERATION, AND PARODICAL PURPLE PROSE! ANYONE WITH VIOLENT REACTIONS TO ANY OF THIS MIGHT WANT TO WAIT FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER! **__**YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!**_

Hi again to:** Jorlem, Drakensis, Paladindythe, yesilmavi, Rob Kelk, Florin, Stephen Mann, Foxboy, Necratoid,** **LilFluff, Bob Schroeck, sweno,** **blackaeronaut, Acyl, Manytales00, nocarename, Timote, werehawk, Cobalt Greywalker, M Fnord, CattyNebulart**.

...

Singum and Vita's heads rose slowly like periscopes, looking over the wall of Hayate's house as Zafira, in wolf form, looked around the corner, Vita balanced on his back so they could see. The two non-Signum knights grumbled at the indignity of it. They waited, watching.

Behind them in the street, a little boy pointed at them. "Mama, what are those crazy people doing?"

She tugged him away and patted him on the hand. "Hush, Ranma-kun. It's just Hayate-chan's crazy relatives. Pretend their not their." They hurried away.

Vita glared at their retreating backs. "Takahashi-san is nuts and her son is an ass," she declared, and went back to watching the front door. They couldn't go in before getting cleaned up, or else Hayate-chan would worry about them.

The front door opened and they all drew back slightly, eyes barely seeing over the wall as Shamal came out pushing–

_The fading sun of coming Twilight shone down, pouring like liquid honey golden creamy oil upon the beautiful Hayate, her earthy bird's nest brown hair tresses a billowing curtain of supreme majesty as she sat upon her wheeled throne of heavenly glory, sapphire cobalt aquamarine cornflower silk lily midnight blue ocean orbs sparkling with inner beauty! The light enfolded her, blazing like the light of the sun, but it was a New Moon Eclipsed by the Breaking Dawn that was the luscious divine divinity that was Hayate-chan, whose very skin sparkled with her own inner light! The lowly scullion Shameall, with her homely features and deformed form finished locking the door of the front door of heaven. She began to push the wheeled throne of heavenly glory containing their most beautiful and divinely divine queen away…_

"–ita," Signum said, slightly annoyed. "Belka to Vita, come in Vita. Zafira needs you to get off him so we can go into the house now."

Vita blinked, watching as Shamal and Hayate-chan turned the corner. Shamal said they were heading to the store to buy ingredients for tonight's dinner. "Yeah, yeah," she said huffily, getting off the Guardian Beast. The three began to sneak towards the door on tip-toes.

"Signum," Vita asked.

"Yes?"

"Why are we sneaking? We live here, we have a key, and Hayate-chan's already left."

Signum considered that and straightened, walking towards the door like a normal person and trying not to feel like an idiot. They headed inside, making a beeline for Shamal and Signum's room. Zafira, as the least injured, knelt down and reached under Shamal's bed for their stash of medical supplies as Vita helped Signum undress, revealing her injuries. They dealt with the rose stem in her leg first thing, drawing it out while Signum clamped down on her urge to scream and disinfecting the would before patching it up. Thankfully, they healed fast, but these injuries meant they'd have to lie low tomorrow to recover. Vita and Zafira tended to their own wounds as Signum, to her annoyance, had to make due with a– horror of horrors!– sponge bath to get cleaned up. The travesty!

When she finally came out, Vita was on the phone, her voice in the slightly dreamy mode that said she was talking to Hayate. "Yes, chocolate ice-cream," Vita was saying. "And, um, this kind of black sludgy thing that was really sweet… yeah, I suppose that was chocolate syrup. And there were these little dark things that kinda looked like turds… Chocolate chips? Really? Funny, they really did look like tu– OH, and these square blocks that said 'Hershey' on them. Really? Okay. Okay. Yeah, we're all fine. Okay, bye Hayate-chan!"

"What was that about?" Singum asked, frowning.

Vita gave her a wide smile. "Something that's almost better than baths with Hayate-chan."

"_Nothing_ is better than baths with Hayate,"" Signum said. "You're being silly."

...

By the time Shamal and Hayate-chan came back home, there was almost no trace of their fight on them, which was currently being shown on the evening news, although Signum turned it off as soon as the door opened. It was mainly showing the collateral damage and the huge spell Shamal had used to pierce the barrier, but best not to excite Hayate-chan.

Vita perked up as the door opened, and–

_The gate of heaven opened, and in stopped the goddess herself, the divinely divine Hayate-chan, with her earthy bird's nest brown hair tresses a billowing curtain of supreme majesty as she sat upon her wheeled throne of heavenly glory, sapphire cobalt aquamarine cornflower silk lily midnight blue ocean orbs sparkling with inner beauty! She came forward, the wheels of her throne turning as the endless wheel of time, grinding away eternity beneath the indomitable presence of Hayate-chan and as if crushing kingdoms beneath her! She smiled when she saw the knights, her dirty, unworthy, insignificant servants who were eternally blessed to be in the radiant presence of goddess among goddesses that rolled among them blessing them with her unearthly beauty with skin so radiant it seemed to sparkle!_

"_Ah! Hello Zafira!"" the goddess blessed the dark sapphire cobalt aquamarine cornflower silk lily midnight blue ocean Guardian Beast, deigning to touch him with her thin, narrow fingers of such delectable tactility. _Zafira arched into the touch, making a pleased sound as _the goddess turned to the pale-blood Twilight sky Barbie-toned haired knight, _who smiled back that the girl_ and was clearly unworthy of such lofty, divinely divine acknowledgement from their most heavenly Queen of the Night Sky under whose presence they all basked in as a fundamentally paramount cornerstone of the foundation of all existence, for Hayate-chan WAS LIGHT!_

_Her heart started pounding in her chest as she felt faint and also swoony but with great resolve and will and determination buried such things and rushed up to greet their most holy beloved wonderful _sexy_ Hayate-chan. She coolly and with much poise and also nonchalance declared, "Oh wondrous goddess of my heart without whom my like would be for naught, thous hast finally returned to our sweet abode of secret lovemaking! Hast thou in your infinite beauty and infinite, endless wisdom doth purchased the Cream of Ice that I, in my moment of blasphemous weakness thought might have been half your equal, as well as the numerous accessorial paraphernaliae of which thou, in thy infinitely endless wisdom and knowledge identified to my unworthy self? "_

"Hayate-chan! Did you get the ice-cream and other stuff you told me about?"

_Her beloved Hayate-chan, that most divinely divine goddess upon this mad, mad Earth whose toes she was not worthy to suckle upon nor cleanse with her saliva whilst using her tongue as a cleaning implement, laughed tinkling bells of chimes made of glass blown by the finest artisans in her shape and hung upon the doorway of heaven to catch the winds of time! "Indeed, my most faithful servant whom I bestow the great honor of allowing you to lie with me in my boudoir, though thou art of course unworthy and are a mere speck of worthless dust to me, I have in my infinite generosity deigned to purchase these trifling mortal turds with which you would consume that you had the audacity to demand of me, you miserable little, worthless excuse of a knight who is not even worthy to touch herself whilst thinking of me…"_

"Hai, Vita-chan! I got you everything you asked for!"

_Madness came over her, and she dared __**touch **__the divine divinity that was her most beloved lovely goddess Hayate-chan, in a bold move reckless throwing her arms around Hayate-chan's soft, perfect, lush, squishy, pert, perky perfectly developed form, longing to scandalously press her mouth against those sensuous berry lips and suckle upon the source of all life, to have her tongue rupture the hymen of midnight and bring about the climactic ecstasy of delirious pleasure… she bravely restrained herself from __giving in to her baser, not-knightly instincts, restrained herself from hitting Hayate-chan so hard that whoever pulled her out of Hayate-chan would be crowned the next King of England. She kept herself from conquering this whole mad world to build an Empire for the manpower that would build the machine she wanted to use to tap that ass. She wished to tap that ass. She wished to tap it hard. But she restrained herself, calling upon iron reserves from inner vaults guarded by ninja doctors armed with chainsaw nunchuks, kept the contact chaste even as she wanted to rip Hayate-chan from her throne right them, to cast her to the ground and defile her with her own base body, to enter her pulsating fingers between Hayate-chan's firm globes and use them as meat pistols, to ravish her then and there…"Oh, my most beloved goddess, thou art the most fundamentally paramount of them all, above all others, the foundation of all virtue!"_

"Wah!" Vita cried as she threw her arms around Hayate and hugged her, taking maybe a bit too long in rubbing her head against the girl's own. "Hayate-chan is the best!"

...

They had stew for dinner. Shamal and Hayate had worked the kitchen, except for when 'Trope-tan Organization the TV' was on and Signum volunteered to do the cutting while Vita and Hayate watched. The Wolkenritter's leader was slowed down, however, as she spent most of the time just holding the knife and watching from the kitchen while Shamal looked on with amusement at their fearless leader.

Hayate sat curled up in the sofa, clutching at Vita's arm as the climactic moment of the episode approached!

_Trope-tan faced the Evil Overlord Byg Bahd, holding before her the Can of Evil Sealing she and her Five Man Band of companions had Fetched Quested for. "Thy tyranny is at an end, thou varlet most foul!" Trope-tan declared as she brandished the ancient and venerable weapon against evil made by the ACME corporation. "Though companions mine hath fallen in battle against thy Quirky Miniboss Squad, they hath bestowed upon I the opportunity to rid thee from thine throne, and bringeth about a new time of Beauty and Justice for All!"_

_The villain facepalmed. "You accidentally activated the Purple Prose trope, didn't you? And you're using those words all wrong."_

_Trope-tan blushed as she held the Onmitropetenomicron in her other hand , the mythical tome that allowed her, as the Chosen One, to wield the limitless Crack powers of the Troper-verse simply by reading it. she flipped some pages and activated another trope. "Trope-tan sorry. Me still How Do I Shoot Web. Ultimate Showdown of UltimateDestiny now?"_

_The Evil Overlord's evil theme music, complete with Ominous Latin Chanting rose as he posed ready to stat Kung Fu Fighting as his Them Music Power Up began. "For my Mother, Who I Love!" he cried, charging at Trope-tan, who Held Back her Phlebtonium as she Drew her trusty Holy Handgrenade-launching BFGun/Sword…_

_**TO BE CONTINUED!**_

"Ah!" Hayate cried. "What happens next, what happens next?"

"_Will Trope-tan ever master the power of the Onmitropetenomicron? How will GundumM react when he finds out? Is Ruin to follow, or will Mileage Vary? Stayed tuned for next week's episode, 'Trope-tan's Crowning Moment Of Awesome Battle Royale With Cheese!'"_

Vita sort of missed most of the show, distracted as she was by her beloved Hayate-chan's grip on her arm that partially pressed it to the side of one of Hayate's nice, soft, squishy, developing bosom.

"Oh, I have to continue making dinner!" Hayate-exclaimed, and Vita blinked, before realizing this was her cue to pick Hayate up and put her on her wheelchair. She slipped her arms under the girl as best as she could, marveling at the feel of Hayate's soft, firm, rounded ass as she gently picked her up and put her in said wheelchair.

Next to them, Zafira rolled his eyes and scratched at his nose from the overload of purple and hormones.

...

After Vita had put everyone but Hayate completely off dessert with her one-girl rendition of a loli doujin, they brushed their teeth and went to bed.

Vita lay beneath the covers, holding tightly to her little bunny plushy– who she called De Sade– just staring at her beloved Hayate as she slept. How could they be so blessed? Through uncountable years and decades and scores and centuries, what had they done to deserve her, their most precious Hayate? And what sick evil would be so cruel as to exact it's vengeance upon them through her, cursing her with this paralysis, forcing them to disobey her, to betray her trust? Vita knew that they must have done something to desrve this torment a thousand times over, but not Hayate! NOT HAYATE! She was as innocent as the driven so, and as pure. _She_ did not deserve this.

And that was the point exactly. That was why Vita and her fellow knights were working their asses off, fighting every over-powered god-child on this mad, mad world. Because Hayate did not deserve this, and they were freeing her the only way they had. Even if it meant stealing the Linker Cores of gods themselves.

Hesitantly, Vita raised her hand, gently lowering it to stroke Hayate's hair. "Oh, my Hayate-chan…" she whispered, the words almost nonexistent, yet the echoed in her heart. "We'll find a way to get the power. We'll save you… it's what knights in armor do for beautiful girls, isn't it? Save the day? We'll save you, Hayate-chan. We promise…"

Vita clenched her eyes shut, willing herself not to cry herself to sleep. Hayate-chan would worry…

...

Vita woke up, her pajama top partly unbuttoned and mostly off to find Hayate snuggling against her bare chest.

"Hmm, so soft…" Hayate murmured sleepily, nuzzling her nose next to Vita's heart, or at least where it would be.

Vita stared, closed her eyes, and sighed happily, holding her beloved Hayate-chan closer…

...

It was such a small wish. The desire for this peace and tranquility to never end. To be with Hayate-chan until the end of their days, just normal people living out normal lives and having nothing to do with the extraordinary events caused by demi-gods and occasional actual gods-walking the Earth.

Somewhere, some sadist with an overly-dramatic and slightly pointless and kinda outdated name must really hate them.

...

**- To be continued...**

...

A/N: I realized that according the Narrative Causality, I'm focusing on the wrong side as Main Characters. This chapter bought to you in Vita-Vision©, using the latest in 'Highly Adjectivised Blue-Red Colouration Expository Narrative©' technology!

I have come to the conclusion I'm too good a writer to be able to write Purple Prose. On the upside, it means I'm too good to write anything as horrible as Twilight. On the down side, it means I'm too good to write anything as marketable as Twilight. It was an actual labor to write it. I had to read _SO _many bad fics to even try to get it down. I couldn't stop laughing at how stupid it all was. Anyone who can do this and KEEP doing it for more than a thousand pages has… well, not talent, but some kind of _anti_-talent. Purple prose is HARD! Though I have also discovered, to my horror, that I have my own personal brand of Purple Prose. I need to lie down…

Shamelessly stole some lines from Gregg Landsman.

Set up a Forum for this on my profile, so please check it out. Need Power Ring Corps volunteers! Also having fun with Polls. Please check those out too…

Please review, C&C welcome. Next up: What happened to Nanoha?

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	14. Negi's back, Mahora Bitches!

A/N: Hi again to:** Jorlem, Drakensis, Paladindythe, yesilmavi, Rob Kelk, Florin, Stephen Mann, Foxboy, Necratoid,** **LilFluff, Bob Schroeck, sweno,** **blackaeronaut, Acyl, Manytales00, nocarename, Timote, werehawk, Cobalt Greywalker, M Fnord, CattyNebulart, Morganni**.

I've decided to give this chap a bang…

...

Takamachi Nanoha of 2814

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 14: The Linker Cores War, Part 8: Fate-chan's Ero-Ero Fantasy Sequences! Or "Negi's back, Mahora Bitches!"

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story. If I did… well, this would all be canon. WARNING: MAY CAUSE HEAD EXPLOSION!

...

Yuuno had never gone supersonic in atmosphere before. It was completely different from reaching those speeds in space. He'd bought Nanoha to Mahora, to the base of the World tree, the most easily recognized landmark on the campus. More importantly, easily seen from the air, and identifiable to those who'd seldom been there. Yuuno had of course gone with Nanoha to Mahora often, but there wasn't time to look for the places Negi mentioned. It had to be the tree.

He'd barely managed to keep himself and Nanoha from crashing into the trunk when there was a shadow and a small flutter of feather, and suddenly that winged girl in the meido outfit and cat ears was there, carrying a long-haired girl wearing red-triangle bordered white clothes. The long-haired girl was just terminating a cellphone call.

She'd stared at Nanoha's bleeding form in horror, at all the blood trickling from her ears, her nose, the corners of her eyes. It was a brief moment, her hand tightening on the winged girl's before shaking herself and drawing out a card. "_Adeat!_" she cried, and began getting to work.

Yuuno had watched, helpless and in awe as the girl proceeded to make his healing spells look like a dirty band-aid. She'd healed Nanoha in moments, and though the blood had remained, when Yuuno scanned her with his ring, she was completely fixed, restored as if nothing had happened. There was none of the hemorrhaging in her brain, though he would need to drain the blood that had accumulated. He wondered how powerful that spell had been. Constructs had been broken before– Nanoha had broken his a lot of times– but it had seldom resulted in anything worse then a mild, momentary throb as it broke. How strongly had Nanoha been concentrating on keeping those numerous construct reinforced, to cause such a powerful reactive backlash?

And how powerful had that spell been to break them anyway?

Even after being healed, Nanoha still wouldn't wake, though it seemed like normal sleep instead of a coma. The girls– who'd introduced themselves as Magus Alba ("But you can call me Konoka-chan!" she'd said cheerfully, making the other girl smile in amusement) and AngelGARd ("We went to the moon together against that guy without skin, remember? It's me, Setsuna-san," she'd said. "I've had to change my code-name.")– had advised him to take Nanoha to a friend's place to rest. Yuuno recognized the place they were heading from that time Nanoha had asked for training to be a magical girl. The wood cabin looked completely unchanged from the last time they'd been here.

As the two girls had taken Nanoha down into the bottle resort place, Yuuno had connected to the Magical Girls' Association's communications network and the TSAB. He'd reported Nanoha's condition, to much relief on the other end, and got a situation update. The three fallen Senshi had been transported out, and Tuxedo Kamen had had several more square swaths removed from his cape for impromptu masks. Eternal Sailor Moon, or at least a civilian claiming to be her, had gone with them, wearing those disguise glasses Ala Alba had lent her. Chrono was escorting them to the main office for treatment. Fate and Arf were inbound to Mahora. He supposed he'd need to go to Juuban to fix any damage with his ring.

A few minutes later, Fate and Arf came rushing down from the sky, having homed in on the not-at-all subtle big glowing green circle above the log cabin Yuuno had set up to orient them. The other blonde nearly stumbled upon landing on the wooden porch, the first time Yuuno had ever seen her lose her grace. Even in the midst of her old fights with Nanoha, pummeled as she was by green gorillas, chibi-kaiju from various movies, mini-robots on top of magical attacks and Nanoha's simpler but no less effective constructs, the girl had always managed to look good at what she was doing, even if that was getting thoroughly pwned.

Now, however, her eyes were wide and a little wild, reminding Yuuno of some of her more obsessed moments while carrying out Precia's will. He eyed Bardiche, but it wasn't in scythe form, which was good. Though given the general axe-like shape of it, it could still do a lot of damage if Fate was upset. Her eyes locked on to Yuuno as Arf landed more gracefully beside her, the familiar looking worried, and not just for Fate. Not so long ago, she was the only one Arf cared for and now…

"Nanoha! Where is…? Is she…? You said–" Fate said, babbling, eyes darting from side to side as if looking for Nanoha. She was scanning the ground as if she expected for Nanoha to just be lying there. So was Arf, actually. Yuuno tried not to think of why that might be.

"_Green Lantern-chan_ is fine," Yuuno said, emphasizing the name. "One of the Ala Alba managed to heal her up, though she still hasn't woken up. They took her inside to the basement to rest."

Arf frowned. "The _basement?_" she repeated.

Yuuno nodded. "There's a… well, they call it a magical diorama, in the basement. It's a kind of self-contained space-time anomaly. Time inside moves faster than outside, so a day inside the anomaly is an hour out here. Green Lantern-chan and I once came here to try and get some magical training for her, and I remember it. They put her there to help her recover faster, relatively speaking."

Arf frowned even as she put a hand on Fate's shoulder to reassure her. "Why won't she wake up?" Arf said.

"Well, that was a big construct that collapsed on her," Yuuno hedged. "That sort of thing… well, it naturally takes time to recover from. Right now, all she seems to need is sleep."

"Take me to her," Fate said. "_Please!_"

Yuuno nodded. "Wipe your feet.

Fate blinked. "Huh?"

"Chachamaru-san has to keep the whole house clean by herself, and we're guests here. Wipe your feet."

The two gave him a flat stare.

He shrugged. "It's what Nanoha would say. Oh, and Fate?"

"What?"

Yuuno pointed his ring at her face. "You'll be needing a mask."

...

Nanoha opened her eyes and found herself face to face with a vampire.

She came the closest to wetting herself since she was six ears old.

"Hmm?" Evangeline said as she looked up from her book from where she was reading it on the sofa next to Nanoha's cot, her voice bored, her expression slightly put upon. "Oh, you're awake. Seriously, why does everyone think they can just use my resort for what ever they feel like? You're been asleep for twelve hours."

"M-McDowell-dono?" Nanoha managed to squeak out as memories of surest terror excavated themselves from her mind like Eldritch Abominations out of the can. "W-we're i-in y-your b-bottle r-resort?"

"Y-yes, w-we a-are," Evangeline said mockingly, jerking her head to one side as she went back to her book. "Your friends are over there, by the way."

Nanoha turned to find Arf and Fate on another couch, the former in wolf form and serving as a pillow for the latter, who was leaning on her as if by gravity and not design. Nanoha giggled at the drool coming out of the corner of Fate's mouth. A little snot-bubble was growing out one nostril. The girl was wearing a mask, and looked like it had been ringed on.

"You should give blondie there a big wet kiss," Evangeline said lightly. "She wouldn't stop keeping watch over when she was conscious. It was so damn saccharine it turned my stomach." She gave Nanoha an evil smile. "So, you here for more… training?"

"NO!" Nanoha cried, nearly falling off the couch she'd been sleeping on as she scooted away from Evangeline, holding the blanket that someone– probably Fate– had draped on her like it was the only thing that would protect her as she waved a hand frantically in the negative. "No, I'm perfectly all right! No need to trouble yourself McDowell-dono! I'm fine! Perfectly fine! Never felt more magical or girly! Really!"

Evangeline just smiled more evilly.

Footsteps outside, and Konoka and Setsuna both ran into the area, both wearing those disguise glasses that Ala Alba had bought so much of in Mundus Magicus. "Green Lantern-chan!" Konoka exclaimed, smiling widely. "You're up! Reaper-chan will be so pleased!"

Nanoha blinked. "Reaper-chan?"

Setsuna pointed at the unconscious Fate, who was muttering something almost inaudible about being someone's wife. "Her," she said, smiling with mild amusement. "Everyone's seems to be really getting into the secret identity thing. Everyone's outside right now trying to pick secret identity names for themselves."

Nanoha blinked. "But… I _know_ most of you!" she said.

"How is that relevant to them having fun picking out names?" Setsuna asked. "We even introduced ourselves to Ferret Lantern like that when we arrived, and he didn't seem to notice. Everyone seems to be getting used to it."

Nanoha laughed a little at this. "And the glasses?"

"Oh, we were just messing around with them," Konoka said as she used her wand to make gestures over Nanoha, apparently ascertaining her condition. She took hers off and tucked it into her pocket. "You seem to be all right, Green Lantern-chan. Does your head hurt?"

Nanoha grimaced a little. "A bit, but it's not much. Like I've been studying for a few hours. Perfectly normal for a day of using the ring."

Konoka nodded. "That's good. We were worried about any possible damage from blood pooling inside you brain, but it looks like that wouldn't be a problem."

"Of course not," Ring-chan said primly from Nanoha's hand. "It might not be full cellular regeneration, but I can take care of a little thing like that with normal life-support protocols."

"Arigatou, Ring-chan," Nanoha thanked the ring, smiling down at it.

"You're welcome ma'm. Shall I take this opportunity to point out power is at one percent?"

"Eh? That low?"

"We _did_ lose a giant robot."

"Oh, right."

Setsuna blinked. "Why does your ring sound like a boy as voiced by Tara Strong?" she said.

...

"Fate-chan, time to wake up! Breakfast time!"

Fate opened her eyes at Nanoha's call, rubbing them free of gunk. "Ahh, sorry Nanoha! I overslept!" she said, turned over… and froze.

Nanoha looked over her shoulder at Fate, a plate of pancakes in each hand. "Eh? Is something wrong, Fate-chan?" she said. She was wearing an apron… and nothing else.

Fate felt her nostril beginning to drip blood. "Nanoha, why are you dressed like that?" she said, voice strangled.

"Eh? Why shouldn't I wear this for my beautiful wife?" Nanoa said, twirling around.

Fate felt her other nostril go. "W-wife?"

"Eh? Don't you remember?" Nanoha said, poking her nose. "Silly Fate-chan. We got married last night, after you helped bring about world peace by killing all the sparkly vampires who were secretly robot pirate ninja and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the Oan Award of Awesomeness, the Barney Stinson High-Five of Bro-manship and the Tralfamadorian Order of Good Guyhood. And me, to be your love-slave forever, to do all the naughty things you want to me."

Fate was feeling slightly light-headed from bloodloss.

"That's right!" Arf said, appearing from Nanoha's forehead playing an ukulele. She, too, was wearing only an apron. "This was confirmed by the high Queen Precia, your mother, who is actually Queen of Cosmo Entelekhia! The one you thought was your mother who Nanoha-chan arrested was actually an evil imposter sent by the space colonies in preparation for implementing Project Meteor and turning the world into Tang so that their robot dinosaurs could attack!"

Fate blinked.

"But you managed to beat them using your giant drill THAT PIERCES THE HYMEN OF MIDNIGHT!" Yuuno cried from where he had replaced Fate's left hand. He was wearing a polka-dot and plaid with brown stripes Power Ring on his head. "Because you're the GOD-DAMNED FATE TESTAROSSA, AGENT OF S.H.I.E.L.D.!"

Fate blinked. "Wha?"

All of a sudden, ninja attacked!

"Fate-chan, time to wake up! Breakfast time!"

Fate opened her eyes at Nanoha's call, rubbing them free of gunk. "Ahh! Nanoha! Are you all right!" she cried, pushed herself off the waking Arf, turned over… and froze.

Nanohoa blinked at her through her green mask, holding a small plate of variously barbequed meats, and another bigger one. "Fate-chan? Er, Reaper-chan? Are you all right?"

"N-nanoha-chan!" Fate said, pointing. "Y-you're wearing a swimsuit!"

Nanoha looked own at herself, at the frilly black and green child's two-piece, with a very frilly skirt-like part.. "Well, yeah, we're having a beach party. We can't get out of the resort until a full 24 hours are up, and Ala Alba are always up for some fun. Barbeque?"

Fate blinked, feeling her nose start to drip.

"Yay! Meat!" Arf cried, standing on all fours. Laughing, Nanoha handed her the big plate.

Blushing, Fate accepted the plate of food. She was hungry, she realized, and hesitantly began eating with her hands, burning her fingers at the still-hot meat. Nanoha handed her a fork. She fell to the food with a will.

"Take your time," Nanoha said. "We still have hours. Do you want me to make you a swimsuit?"

Fate blinked. "Swimsuit?"

Nanoha grinned. "Well, it's kind of hard to have fun at the beach in a barrier jacket. Though I suppose all you have to do is leave off the cape, boots and gloves. What you wear is actually enough like a swimsuit. Come on, I want you to meet everyone."

Fate blushed shyly. "I've already met them when we took you to TSAB headquarters…"

Nanoha rolled her eyes at her. How Fate could tell through the mask, she had no idea. "Yes, but this time we meet them _properly_. Fate-chan, welcome to the United Magical Girls Association…"

...

As it turned out, there wasn't a lot to fix, beyond one store-front window and one wall. Isolation-type barriers were convenient that way.

"You sure you don't want to go back to Mahora yet?" Yuuno asked as they passed a woman with a very large hat asking women if they wanted to be her sobame.

Negi, unmasked and wearing more normal looking clothes again courtesy of Yuuno's ring, shook his head. He'd looked disproportionately happy at the clothes, making Yuuno wonder once again what it was about this planet that drove people insane. And if it already had him. "No. I want to enjoy wearing normal clothes for a while."

Yuuno blinked, turning to stare at the boy as they walked away from the scene of the fight, dressed as civilians for the most part, except their clothes were mainly black and green. "Normal clothes?" he said.

Negi grimaced. "Well, it's sort of complicated. Ever since Green Lantern-chan mistook me for a girl, my class has been teasing me about it. So have several of my co-workers."

Yuuno frowned. "Class– oh, right, you're a teacher. Teasing? That's it?"

"They've been stealing all my clothes and replacing them with girl's clothes," Negi said, expression contorted in misery, though a watching girl would have said he was pouting cutely.

Yuuno stared. "Girl's clothes?" he said, not sure if he heard it right.

"Heeled shoes. Miniskirts. P-panties," Negi clarified, shuddering. "These are actually the first boy clothes I've worn in _days_."

"That's um, horrible," Yuuno said, torn between wanting to laugh and genuinely feeling sorry for the guy. He sounded like the victim of a joke that had gone too far. He considered his next words as they passed by a store selling lampshades. "You should do something to get back at them with your own prank, like steal their clothes too or something. I mean, I know it's probably not very teacherly– "

"That's it! I should get back at them with my own prank! You're a genius, Yuuno-san!" Negi declared.

"– but it sounds like they– wait, you're agreeing with me?" Yuuno said, blinking.

Negi blushed. "Well, it's probably really wrong, but I know my class doesn't really take me scolding them that seriously. Even _I_ don't take scolding them very seriously. They'll need a big gesture. Will you help me?"

Yuuno's eyebrows knit together. "Well…"

"Please, Yuuno-san!" Negi begged. "I'm not really sure how I'm supposed to go about pulling a prank on someone, but it's got to be a little like committing a crime except less evil, right? And you're Green Lantern-chan's partner, so you'd know all about crimes!"

Yuuno made frantic hushing gestures. "Keep it down!" he hissed. He looked at some people staring at them. "We're rehearsing a cosplay script!"

There were shrugs, and people moved on.

Negi blushed in embarrassment. "Sorry. _Please_ help me Yuuno-san! We token shota's have to stick together!"

Yuuno stared at him as an old lady carrying a lampshade from the store they'd just passed walked by. "What did you just call us?"

Negi blinked. "That's what Arf-san called us, for some reason."

"Ah. That makes sense. Okay, fine, I'll help you."

"Thank you, Yuuno-san!"

"Just stop hugging me like we're a BL couple… not that there's anything wrong with that, mind you."

"Oh, sorry."

...

Bruce Wayne sighed from the back of his car where it was stuck in traffic, impatient. "Magical girls and some kind of demon attack. It _had_ to be magical girls and a demon attack…"

He glared at his watch as if it had personally offended him. He'd wanted to make it to Fukuyi city while it was still daylight, but a meeting with the Queen Iono Mito Archeline of Ibayamia, the infamous lesbian queen of Europe (literally), who of _course_ had taken rooms in Tokyo, had taken a little longer than expected, and they'd been caught in the unexpected traffic caused by a Magical Girl incident.

He looked out the window and twitched as he saw the very same queen he'd just been meeting with out on the side-walk, apparently propositioning dark-haired women. She'd probably walked from the hotel; it was the only way she could have gotten to his area so fast. The idea of walking was very appealing…

Sighing, he went back to his paperwork, already longing for the beatdown he was going to give the criminal scum of Japan …

...

It was after a couple of hours of fun at the beach– which in this case meant horsing around in the water and slowly shifting to combat practice and sparring– with the Ala Alba girls that Nanoha finally popped Fate the question.

"Fate-chan!" Nanoha said on bended knee, looking seriously up at Fate. "Will you train me in magic?"

Fate blinked, while a small part of her brain wailed about it not being 'Will you marry me?'. "W-what?"

Nanoha looked intently up at her as Ala Alba paused slightly in their beachwear-clad training in kendo, unarmed combat and magic. "You're more familiar with the style of magic we use. Raging Heart can give me the basics, but she and Yuuno aren't very good with coming up with new spells. I've only ever made up three. The two forms of Starlight Breaker, and a fast-release shooting spell I haven't been able to test properly yet. But you know all sorts of tricks, like that Phalanx shift thing where you let out a lot of blasts! So I was wondering if you could teach me that? And maybe other things?"

"Um, sure!" Fate said, as her mind drifted off to what those 'other things' might be…

Her nose began to bleed at the thought.

_And so the two of them decided to offend the boundaries of the student/teacher relationship and carry on a torrid little tryst!_ Arf cheerfully sent to her.

_ARF!_ Fate cried back mentally. _It's not like that!_

Mental snickering was her only reply.

Some days, you just couldn't get any respect…

...

Chamo had never been prouder of Negi.

"Big brother," he sniffled as he picked the lock of the next door they were ransacking. "On his first panty raid. I'm so proud!"

Negi blushed. "It's not like that, Chamo-kun!" he protested. "We'll just be teaching 3-A a lesson."

"That involves stealing their clothes," Yuuno said, keeping an eye out. "Face it Negi, this is a panty raid."

Kotaro, holding the big burlap bag containing the clothes they'd already stolen– Asuna's, Konoka's, Haruna's, Yue's, Nodoka's– grumbled. "This is stupid," he muttered, at least knowing enough to realize this was a stealth mission.

"Kotaro, I dare you to say that after two days of having to wear a miniskirt in the dorms," Negi said.

Kotaro considered this. "So, who exactly are we hitting?"

"Easier to say who we _aren't_," Chamo said. "Satsuki, Kaede, Chachamaru, Natsume, Setsuna, Mana, Cassandra, Akira, and Ako aren't getting hit, but as for everyone else…"

Yuuno sighed, though he was feeling the illicit thrill of the moment. "I'm not sure I should be doing this. Does this technically count as evil?"

Kotaro considered it some more. "Who's going to be stealing Eva-sama's stuff?"

"Him!" Negi and Chamo chorused, pointing at Yuuno.

Yuuno glared at them. "Cowards."

The door clicked open, and the three boys and one ermine snuck in. It was Makie and Ako's room, and the Pink Albatross was _definitely _on their list. Chamo was instantly able to pinpoint Makie's underwear and school uniform with his super-perverts senses, and they quickly stuffed it into the bag. Pulling him out of the bag and staying away from Ako's stuff, they made their way to the next room.

They used Kotaro's key to get into Natsume, Chizuru and Ayaka's room and raided the latter two's closets. They left Natsume's stuff untouched, though the actress would later find one of her missing panties stuffed into the pocket of Kotaro's pants while doing laundry.

After raiding the cheerleader's rooms– where they'd found a disturbing number of semi-naked pictures of Negi and Kotaro, which they also took to destroy– they were about to sneak to the next– Asakura's– when they almost ran into Cassandra.

They froze as the for-all-practical-purposes-mute girl blinked at them curiously, dressed in her PE clothes, a towel hanging around her neck. She essayed a hesitant smile, making a small wave.

"Oh, hello Cassandra-san," Negi said. "Uh, this isn't what it looks like."

She raised a disbelieving eyebrow.

"Well, all right, it's a little what it looks like," Negi admitted. "But it's for a good cause!"

Cassandra tilted her head to one side questioningly.

"I'm just teaching some of your classmates a lesson," Negi said. "You know how they've been stealing my clothes, right?"

Cassandra nodded, an expression of commiseration on her face. She looked around, made a zipping motion over her lips, and winked at Negi.

"Thanks, Cassandra-san!" Negi said, leading the way around her as she smiled conspirationally at them.

"Are you telepathic or something?" Yuuno said, staring at Negi, then looking over his shoulder at Cassandra and back again.

Negi shrugged. "Cassandra-san is pretty easy to understand."

...

About two hours after entering the resort– they'd decided to spend an extra day resting, recovering and exchanging ways to make things go BOOM!– Green Lantern and the other girls finally stepped out.

"Eh, look at the time!" Green Lantern said, looking at the clock placed outside of the transport glyph to let people know when they were coming back to. "We have to go back home Fate-chan, Arf-san! My family will be worried, and we still have school tomorrow!"

She grabbed Fate's hand, making the other girl's mind go completely numb and floopy as she pulled the blonde up the basement stairs, a grinning Arf following behind them. "Thank you for taking care of us, ala Alba!" she called back to their hosts.

"Come back soon, Green Lantern-chan!" Konoka called, before glomping on to Setsuna's arm, making _her_ mind go all numb and floopy.

Asuna smirked knowingly. "Anyone else see a distinct resemblance to Konoka and Setsuna in Green Lantern-chan and her friend?" she asked the others.

"Yup," Haruna said, grinning widely.

"Just making sure."

...

Chrono frowned down at the three unconscious women. Well, two women and yet another girl with a single-digit age. Seriously, what was it about this planet that produced ridiculously powerful magic users of one sort or another before puberty? Was it something in the water? Was it some kind of genetic magengineering in the distant past that was now coming out due to lots of the necessary genes now becoming dominant? Was the planet secretly the protective sanctuary of some all powerful life-force entity that had created the stars, plants and life itself, bringing up these mages and other attendant lunatics as some kind of organic protection?

He thought about it. Nah, that just sounded stupid. Next thing you know he'd be thinking of evil super-powered zombie uprisings. Earth's lunacy must really be getting to him.

Fortunately, Yuuno and Nanoha had called him to say they had an idea that might help with the recovery of these and any future victims. The fact that Nanoha seemed almost certain of such future victims was not a good sign, coming from the optimistic girl. This little bit of news hadn't garnered much of a reaction from the short-haired blonde woman keeping watch over her companions while Tuxedo Kamen accompanied Eternal Sailor Moon to her own check up.

Chrono made a mental note to get some more medical gear sent to Earth so they didn't have to keep sending the crazies to the Headquarters for treatment…

...

Night fell. It's a simple pair of words, but it holds a lot of activity.

Tohsaka Rin, magus, looked down at her research. To think she'd be part of the Fifth Holy Grail war! Ha! She'd show that bitch Luvia. A Saber, yes, she'd finally get a Saber, and as soon as she did, the first order of business would be to get it to kick the gaijin bitch's ass!

She felt an evil laugh bubbling up and didn't even try to suppress it as she threw back her head and made like Mark Hamill in a Paul Dini production. The shade of the lamp next to her shifted ominously…

Luviagelita Edelfelt, magus, looked down at her research. To think she'd be part of the Fifth Holy Grail war! Ha! She'd show that bitch Rin. A Servant, yes, she'd finally get a Servant, a _real_ Servant and not just a maid, and as soon as she did, the first order of business would be to get it to kick the Japanese bitch's ass!

She felt an evil laugh bubbling up and didn't even try to suppress it as she threw back her head and made like Neil Patrick Harris in a Joss Whedon production. The shade of the lamp next to her shifted ominously…

Miyu, in her room, looked up in concern as the sound of her employer's laughter echoed through the mansion, sighed, and went back to cuddling her Illya Dakimakura…

Batman posed dramatically on top of the tallest building in Fuyuki city. He was tired, sore from sitting all day, and pissed off at traffic in general. Bruce Wayne had pleaded being too tired to get anything done at the office, and tonight, the criminals of Fuyuki would be paying for that. And because he was Batman, this posing was not only suitably dramatic, being outlined in the sky and everything , but also served to give him the quickest overview of the city.

Drawing out his grappling hook, he leapt, and the last of his 'civilian' thought– whether he'd be able to turn the Batmobile into a transforming robot battlesuit– was subsumed. Tonight, justice would be done!

In the residential areas, Matou Shinji used his little magic book to Bind Rider to his will while his sister locked herself in her room, knowing it was futile, as her own Command Seals darkened and seemed to fade away. Matou Zouken plotted to take advantage of the latest Holy Grail War…

Yes, these assholes will get what's coming to them.

In the dead of night, Yagami Hayate, a mischievous smile on her face, slowly undid the top buttons of Vita's pajamas and lay her head on her knight's bare chest…

...

The sun rose. Day came.

Vita woke up, her pajama top partly unbuttoned and mostly off to find Hayate snuggling against her bare chest.

"Hmm, so soft…" Hayate murmured sleepily, nuzzling her nose next to Vita's heart, or at least where it would be.

Vita stared, closed her eyes, and sighed happily…

Negi Springfield also woke, instantly clapping down on the alarm clock under his pillow. He glanced next to him at Asuna, but the girl, thank goodness, was still very much asleep.

Carefully, he climbed out of bed, putting on his slippers, and grabbed the briefcase he carried his school papers in, and snuck out of the dorm.

A few minutes later, he was on the roof of the dorm, quickly getting changed into the suit Yuuno-san had made for him the day before that he'd hidden there, after their little raid. He looked at the various cuts of molecular-modified cloth and grinned happily. Then he started to SUIT UP!

It seemed oh so serious. He could almost imagine a soundtrack slowly going "dun, den, dun, den," as he got dressed.

He buttoned the shirt slowly, relieved at the buttons that were finally on the right side. Down going up, not the other way around…

He pulled on the pants, allowing himself to marvel at the fit and feel of the material. Button, then fly. His hands slowly did the buckle as, in his head, the imaginary soundtrack got a bit louder…

The jacket went next, then pulling on the cuffs so they stuck out as they should. His plain black wristwatch joined then near her hands…

The tie went around his neck, and he secured it slowly and methodically, looping the length of dark silk in the more elegant manner that had become second nature to him. He adjusted the fit of his jacket, then reached down and picked up the pair of glasses he'd put on top of his case suit, slipping them on, deliberately putting them on a little low. A slow smile began to creep over his face as he looked at the rising sun.

He was ready. Impulsively, he winked. In his head, the soundtrack rose to a crescendo and fell.

A chill suddenly passed through all Mahora, jerking several people awake. The leaves of the World Tree ruffled as the cosmic event locked into place.

Negi took a page out of Chao's book, threw back his head and laughed.

Negi Springfield was _back_, Mahora bitches!

"Daddy's home…"

And down in the dorm's yard, Cassandra Doe began her morning exercises…

...

Class rolling in found a 3-A that was far from it's usual enthusiastic self. Except for a few, the girls all sat stiffly, feeling very conscious. They discussed the problem in hushed tones, glancing or glaring jealously at the one's who apparently hadn't been victimized. Setsuna was feeling very conscious of it all, and tried very, _very_ hard not to think of how this had affected Konoka. So far, she'd already ground down five pencils into little more than nubs as she Freudianally used the pencil sharpener for displacement activity. Even Evangeline found herself highly annoyed at the theft. She was a slut, but she was a slut on her own terms, darn it!

To cap it off, all of their clean uniforms had also apparently been stolen, so they'd needed to come in wearing the previous day's wrinkly, slightly stinky uniforms. But they had hope! Negi-sensei would take care of this! After all, Negi-sensei had never let them down! He'd see whoever had done this would be brought to justice! After all, he was Negi-sensei!

The door opened and the class tearfully came to it's feet, letting out a cry of despair that would certainly tug at all the right heartstrings as Negi walked in…

Negi walked in…

_Negi walked __**in…!**_

They all just stood, staring, as their sensei, wearing a dark green suit, casually walked into the room. At least, it _seemed_ casual. He looked like he'd just walked out of a deodorant commercial, as if his every movement was in slow motion.

Everything seemed to stop. It was as if the imaginary soundtrack going "dun, den, dun, den," had restarted, only louder.

Shining black shoes, practically glowing with the sheen of new leather…

The class all turned to stare. Ayaka's mouth dropped to the floor, her eyes bugging out.

Slim, perfectly creased legs…

Misa, Madoka, and Sakurako began to fan themselves as heat began to rise. Suddenly, their not having any panties on didn't seem like such a bad thing.

Hands casually pulling on one cuff, then another…

Evangeline felt her libido, firmly quashed these last fifteen years, slowly making itself known as a rising wave of magma about to erupt in an earth-shaking event. "Empty Night…" she breathed.

One hand reaching up to adjust the tie, only underlining how perfect it already was…

Setsuna felt a chill run through her as, for the first time in _years_, her libido screamed with straight thoughts.

A quiet, confident, 'devil-may-care' smile that only _hinted_ at what other things it can do…

Konoka put a hand to her chest, feeling her heartbeat rising. She felt flushed, feverish. Oh, wow…!

Glasses glinted sexily in the light…

Several desks creaked as several pairs of hands suddenly tightened.

"Daddy's home, class," Negi said. One eye winked. The imaginary soundtrack once more climaxed, and was quiet. "How _you_ all doin'?" he said, with just the barest hint of an italian accent.

Cassandra yawned and wondered what all the fuss was about. At least Negi-sensei seemed to be feeling better, though why her classamtes were being more perverted than normal, she had no idea. She'd long learned to stop wondering about that.

"N-Negi-sensei," Setsuna managed to force out of her mouth, when all she really wanted to do was renew her Magistra Magi vows and slam her lips against those soft, perfectly formed… She concentrated. "N-negi-sensei, something horrible has happened to the class!"

Negi put on a concerned face that, had they all been of a clearer mind, would have recognized as fake. "Oh dear! What happened, Setsuna-san?"

No one spoke, suddenly realizing they didn't want to admit that–

"Apparently, last night, someone or several someones broke into the dormitories and residences of several of the people here and absconded with all their underwear and clean uniforms, N-negi-sensei," Chachamaru reported, and even she had a hitch in her voice.

A hand snapped up to cover Negi's suddenly gasping mouth, and many of the girls wondered how well he'd be able to use it for… other things. "Oh my, how terrible!" Negi said. "I know just how you feel! Over the past several days, some black-hearted villains have also stolen all my clothes, leaving me with nothing to wear!"

There were some guilty squirms at this. Others looked on expectantly. This was it, this was when their heroic Negi-sensei would come forward and volunteer his help to them, his precious 3-A students!

"Please open your books to page 69, section 34," Negi said, turning to the board and grabbing his chalk.

Jaws dropped in disbelief.

Asuna, not knowing what the heck was going on with Negi, called out to him as he wrote. "Hey, Negi-chan!"

He kept on writing.

"Hey, Negi-chan!" she yelled.

Write, write, write.

"Negi-chan!" the cheerleaders all cried.

Write some more.

Haruna rolled up a Megaphone out of paper, as most of Ala Alba had found they were also missing their Pactio Cards that morning. "_**NEGI-CHAN!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!**_"

Very important, writing.

"Oi, Girla!" Evangeline called from the back.

More writing.

Evangline narrowed her eyes and said, in barely more than a whisper, "Boya."

"Yes, Evangeline-san?" Negi said, turning with a smile and manner so reminiscent of Albeiro– er, Ku:nel Sanders!– that Evangline was scared out of a hundred years of her life. She almost expected him to call her "Kitty". Some part of her libido _really_ wanted him to, to have him call her a naughty little cat, and to punish her by banging her quite severely…

"Aren't you going to do something about it?" she demanded to cover the fact she was leaving a stain on her skirt.

He shrugged helplessly. "Sorry, Evangeline-san. If I can't even find out who stole _my_ clothes, how could I _possibly_ help you find out who stole your 23 different thongs, 9 of which are made of leather, hidden in the left hand drawer of you closet on the left, next to the one you keep you Elegant Gothic Lolita clothes in? They are as lost as Ayaka-san's 8 sets of matching black lingerie, complete with garters, or Yuuna-san's 9 sets of bras. There's only so much I can do…"

He went back to writing as the class stared at him in horror, united in one terrible thought. _He'd_ done it! _He'd_ stolen all their underwear! _He'd_ broken into the rooms and gone through their things! _Him_! Their very own saintly, innocent Negi-sensei!

Ayaka fainted, a happy goofy smile on her face at the thought of Negi-sensei personally handling her underwear, as a couple more left some serious stains, while the rest blushed in utter mortification.

Chisame in particular paled in deepest, darkest, purest terror. "Oh, crap," she whispered. "He's hit puberty! We're all doomed!"

"Believe me, I know what you're going through," he said, not turning around as he kept on writing. "I really wished I had _my_ clothes returned to me as well. The depths these thieves would go, to utterly ruin someone's day, just for the sake of a few cheap laughs that are ultimately not worth it in the end. It is _such_ a cutting betrayal…"

He turned to them, still wearing that Albeiro– er, Ku:nel Sanders!– smile. It chilled 3-A– except Cassandra, who didn't really get what was going on except Negi-sensei was getting back at the class for being mean to him– to the core. "Well, I suppose all that we can do is hope that the thief, or thieves, has a change of heart and brings all the stolen clothes back. I really miss my clothes, especially my hats and shirts. Konoka-san helped my buy them for our field trip to Kyoto, so they hold great sentimental value, and those are some of the clothes I wore to some very precious memories, such has when I went to see the Light, Fire and Water show during the school festival. So many precious memories with my wonderful students…"

Konoka and Nodoka burned with shame as they heard this. So did a lot of other people

Negi gave them all a _look_, and Setsuna could have _sworn_ his eyes had, for a split second, gone evil-Shinmei-Ryu gold-on-black. "Really, all we can hope for are our precious clothes being returned…"

...

**- To be continued...**

...

A/N: And so we prove Negi _IS_ related to Nagi.

Lots of teasers in the forums. Ever wondered why the Senshi _REALLY_ keep coming back to life? PreciaxLindy smut, anyone?

Yes, Ring-chan is voice by Tara Strong. Because her voice is HOT! Even when it's voicing Ben Tennyson, which is really confusing for me. Batman, of course, will be voiced by Kevin Conroy and not Adam West. Kevin Conroy is also confusing for me…

Yes, this fic crosses over with _**Iono the Fanatics**_. To find out what that means, go to tenmanga dot com. It is the BEST yuri manga EVER! It's about a YURI HAREM! WITH NO COMPETITION OR JEALOUSY!

Am I a yuricon? Well, DUH!

Hayate is definitely not, in any way, shape or form, related to Light. That is all. Seriously. In no way is she at al related to Light, nor is the Book of Darkness actually a mutated Death Note! These are **definitely** _**not**_ Suspiciously Specific Denials! (*blinks innocent eyes*)

The Trespasser and the Ultimate Marvel version of the Phoenix Force share a LOT of similarities…

Yes, I think Nodoka and Yue _WOULD_ get in on the Girl!Negi joking. Maybe a ribbon here and there…

Please review, C&C welcome.

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	15. Strike on Mahora!

A/N: Hi again to:** Jorlem, Drakensis, Paladindythe, yesilmavi, Rob Kelk, Florin, Stephen Mann, Foxboy, Necratoid,** **LilFluff, Bob Schroeck, sweno,** **blackaeronaut, Acyl, Manytales00, nocarename, Timote, werehawk, Cobalt Greywalker, M Fnord, CattyNebulart, Morganni**.

Hi also to: **Khaos, Narf the Mouse, biigoh, Winchester, MrEmperor, mkire, firefossil.**

My touch is spreading. Bwahahahahaha! TvTropes, dattebayo! That is now officially my Catch Phrase!

...

Takamachi Nanoha of 2814

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 15: The Linker Cores War, Part 9: Strike on Mahora!

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story. If I did… well, this would all be canon. WARNING: MAY CAUSE HEAD EXPLOSION!

...

Chrono Harlaown was having a perfectly average day. Not get any sleep due to filling out paperwork, such as reports on the effectiveness of the identity obfuscation mask, and the three unconscious people who'd had their Linker Cores ripped out; reset his barrier jacket to purge its smell and make sure it was air-tight to keep his own stink in since he didn't have time to take a bath; call his mom and give an update on progress while relaying a couple of things for Green Lantern-chan to relay to her own Earth contacts; ask Yuuno and Amy to come to him at the HQ…

There were absolutely no voices in his head. He knew enough from Nanoha to count that a good thing…

...

Nanoha's hand reached out from under her covers, grabbing her beeping cellphone and pulling it under the blankets with her like some kind of hentai monster taking the screaming loli victim into its lair. The beeping cut off, and there was a semi-contented sigh of someone going back to sleep. In his basket, Yuuno curled up tighter.

"Ma'am," Ring-chan's boyish Tara Strong voice said. "Ma'am, time to wake up. "

Nanoha snored on.

Undeterred, Ring-chan calmly lifted its Lantern off the ground, rotated her until her head was pointing straight down to the bed, and let gravity get back to work.

_BOUNCE!_

"_EH?_"

"Good morning, ma'am," Ring-chan repeated chirpily. "Isn't it time for you to be waking up? You have morning patrol, training, breakfast and school in front of you, and that's just before noon."

Grumbling sleepily, Nanoha crawled out of bed, rubbing at her eyes. "Ring-chan, power check," she said fuzzily.

"Ring power at 95 percent, ma'am," Ring-chan said. "You have messages."

Yawning again, Nanoha set about getting ready for another day's work…

...

Yuuno yawned, barely keeping together the construct that was flying him and Amy towards the TSAB main office. Idly, he wondered why they called it the TSAB when, for absolutely no effort at all, they could call it STAB, and have a really cool acronym. Ah, well…

"It's too early in the morning for this," Yuuno muttered. He glared half-heartedly at Amy, sitting next to him on a fully extended massage chair like the one he'd once seem on that trip to the hot springs where they'd first met Arf. He was curled up on his own chair, slightly less comfortable, since he was still pretty sleepy and he knew that, without special preparation, if he fell asleep the constructs would go bye-bye. "What does that boyfriend of yours want at this hour, anyway?"

"A nookie?" Amy said, grinning.

"You do it," Yuuno said. "After yesterday's panty raid, I've used up this month's weird quota."

Amy raised an eyebrow. "Panty raid?" she said, grinning.

"I don't want to talk about it!"

...

Yuuno knew only the most basic theory of how familiars were made, since he had never really considered making one for himself, but he knew enough. As such, he wondered if the Lieze sisters were originally _Earth_ cats. That was the best explanation of why the two of them were horny nut jobs. Amy, for some reason, didn't seem at all jealous some other girl was literally al over _**HER**_ Chrono. Yuuno halted that train of thought, since it was too distracting.

Seriously, these were the nutcases Chrono thought had a knack for information on the Book of Darkness? The more Yuuno thought about it, the more it became likely they _were_ from Earth_. _In his experience, only Earth people could be that crazy while still being accomplished in their field, whatever it was.

Everyone he knew on Earth sneezed.

...

The Infinity Library, Yuuno drooled, was HUGE! Yue and her friends would _love_ it here!

"But just to be clear," he said as an Orangutan floated past him and the Lieze twins, "That's just a nickname, right? It's not some kind of physical manifestation of the Akashic Records? All it _really_ contains is data and every publication ever published in every supervised world in the TSAB's history?"

"And a few from unsupervised ones," Aria nodded, giving her a slight spin. "You'd be surprised how many people make that mistake."

"Not really," Yuuno said, looking around at the arcing white pylons that were part of the slight stable space-warp that allowed them to have such an obscene amount of room. "Twilight?"

The twins grinned widely, giggling and squealing. Yuuno firmly slotted them in the 'Crazy Evil' box and maxed out his protective energy aura to keep his mind from being contaminated.

"Except for the ones closest to the door and a few oft-read favorites, most of this isn't really well organized," Lotte said as a sharp-nosed pointy-eared man with red hair and glasses and a luscious blonde woman float by. "Well, we _try_, but filing systems tend to be idiosyncratic, and no one ever puts the books where they found them… you understand."

"Normally, a team would be formed to do the searching," Aria said as a group of girls with 'Library Island Exploration Club' floated in the background, clustered around a map with a snowflake configuration. "It probably says something that Dr. Gates spends more of his time trying to map out the library and looking for lost research teams than getting anything filed."

"Examining history and the past is my tribe's main occupation," Yuuno said, thoughtfully tapping his cheek. "You know, I really should send them a postcard, let them know I'm all right. Aunt Lara would like to know all those skills she taught me was useful for more than just raiding tombs."

"Lotte and I have work to do, so we can't stay here the whole time…" Aria said apologetically.

Yuuno waved a dismissive hand. "I'll be all right. I have more than just search magic to help me look."

Aria raised an eyebrow at that. "Well, we'll still do what we can to help."

"After all, our cute, favorite pupil Chro-suke asked us to!" Lotte cried.

"SHH!" Yuuno shushed, pointing at the sign that proved that, no matter how messed up the geometry, this was still a library.

_Rules:_

_Silence_

_Books must be returned by the last date stamped._

_Do not interfere with the nature of causality._

Lotte blushed. "Sorry."

Yuuno metaphorically rolled up his sleeves, using his magic to add his usual fedora to his barrier jacket and wondering where he'd left his whip. He'd probably have to get a new one again. "All right, let's get to work. Ring, copy this entire library…"

Green light flared.

...

Meanwhile, on Earth, Fate was coming to a very important crossroads, a choice that will shake the very foundations of the universe, completely realigning all reality as we know it with its magnitude!

"Which cell phone should I get?"

Very serious business, that…

...

"You're all cleared, for now," Chrono told the four un-transformed Sailor Senshi, dutifully ignoring how Sailor Uranus was holding Sailor Neptune's hand. He'd just talked to Aria about the _Asura_'s new Arc-en-Ciel weapon system out in the hall. "Eternal Sailor Moon should be up to transforming in about two or three days, though the rest of shouldn't for the next week or so. Sailor Saturn-san will likely be done healing up in five or six, since she's so young. At that age, Linker Cores tend to recover faster."

"Damn it!" Sailor Pluto growled, slamming her fist against the wall. "The enemy could attack five times over by then. And here we are, useless!"

Chrono coughed. "Well, as to that, Green Lantern-chan had a few ideas."

They all looked at him.

"How do you feel about staying in a resort for a few days?"

...

Fate stayed at home as Nanoha made her rounds. While the TSAB might 'only' have to deal with the Wolkenritter, _she_ had other duties to tend to. She checked the orbits of approaching space matter, making sure none were likely to hit earth or any of the hundred of valuable space equipment in high orbit. Cleared up a little of the debris in orbit as well. She monitored the communications of the other planets in her sector, listening for any emergency calls for Green Lantern, as well as reports concerning earthquakes and similar destructive phenomena. Fortunately, there was nothing for her to need to deal with.

Nanoha also checked on updates from Oa, and updated them on the latest on the currently-experimental alliance with the TSAB. While their 'nominal' area of jurisdiction was this universe as they knew it– such as it was, messed up and all– the Guardians encouraged their Lanterns to make alliances and contacts where they could. After all, in the billions of years history of the Corps, it was not unheard of for Lanterns to come into contact with civilizations in small pocket dimensions, on the second star to the right and straight on until morning, or in a completely different plane of existence. There were 76 known alternate 'magical' planes in sector 2814 alone, not counting those that connect to Earth.

The TSAB was being filed under 'Sector 2814, specifically Earth-centric, variable dimensional plane phenomenon'. Nanoha had been able to establish basic niceties with the TSAB organization proper, and though it was still in its infancy, she was confident that in the future the rapport would develop into a mutually beneficial association.

Really.

This was, however, simply a case of keeping busy. In the interim moments between actually doing things, she turned the events of the past few days over and over in her mind. If she'd taken Vita seriously in their first fight, if she'd used her Ring as she should have, perhaps they wouldn't be having these problems. It was likely she'd have been able t o capture Vita, at least, and maybe Signum and their familiar as well. Then she wouldn't have needed to allow Ring-chan to call everyone, and they wouldn't have ended up possible targets of the Wolkenritter…

Guilt, thankfully, did not compromise the integrity of her constructs.

She wished Raging Heart was there. And _her_ being damaged was her fault too! People had been hurt because she hadn't taken the Wolkenritter seriously the first time, and it looked like things were getting worse. Sailor Mercury had said those drone-things the Wolkenritter had bought to Juuban were a _highly_ advanced variant on the first kinds of monsters the Sailor Senshi had fought, whose life-draining effects on their victims could be devastating. Were the Wolkenritter going beyond just draining Linker Cores now? Could they for some reason be also planning to drain life energy?

If so, she had to stop them. it was her responsibility, her _duty_. While the Senshi and mages and Superman and other heroes all protected the Earth, she felt it was slightly different for her. _They_ all did it because they were good people, who wanted to do the right thing. And granted, Nanoha was that as well, or so she'd like to believe in all humility. But there was a difference between them and her: _she_ had been offered and _accepted_ the responsibility for the protection of the Earth along with all other attendant places in her space Sector. For the honor of being a part of the Green Lantern Corps, it was her _duty_, her responsibility, to protect Earth, so see no harm befell anyone there. She had sworn this to a dying man.

Abin Sur would have been ashamed.

"Poot," Nanoha grumbled.

She really needed advise.

"Ring-chan, find Superman-sama."

...

"You know, maybe those TSAB people are right," Zafira said as Vita typed. "Maybe you _are_ spending too much time online."

Vita gave him a look. Hayate was currently out of the house doing Hayate-out-of-the-house things, Signum was recovering by teaching her kendo class, and Shamal was with Hayate. _She _was doing VERY IMPORTANT RESEARCH for their next target. "I am doing VERY IMPORTANT RESEARCH for our next target!" she said huffily.

"You're checking out Sailor Senshi shrines," Zafira said blandly. "And starting a forum flame-war about what Sailor Moon's opinion on Twilight is. And flaming Green Lantern in every forum you could get into."

Vita self-consciously closed some tabs. "Well, I'm still getting important info on our targets!" She switched to another tab and scrolled down, pointing at a picture of a red-headed boy in a suit and glasses. "Recognize him?"

Zafira squinted. "Not really. Should I?"

"He was one of those we managed to extract a Link Core from, that night we got hit by every Sankt Kaiser begotten, Hayate-damned mage on the planet," Vita growled. "According to this, his name is Negi Springfield, and he's a teacher at Mahora Academy, class 3-A. He's an orphan, and has never met his father."

Zafira blinked. "Vita, how in Hayate's name did you manage to come across this when we didn't even know his name?"

"I got an e-mail from someone named Chao Lingshen," Vita said. "It was pretty convenient."

She showed him another tab. It was a free e-mail account, and the email read:

_From: ChaoLingshen at ChaoCorp dot com_

_To: FrauVitaYagami at Mahoo dot com. _

_This is a timed message. Please do not reply. _

_The following is a very convenient list of powerful mages in the immediate vicinity of Japan you might be interested in._

What followed was a short list of names, with a number next to them.

_This message helpfully bought to you by Chao Bao Zhi! For the best meat buns in Mahora, go to Chao Bao Zhi. We also serve Ice-cream!_

_Best of luck, Chao Lingshen._

Zafira and Vita stared. "When did you get this again?" the Guardian Beast said.

Vita pursed her lips. "It was there as soon as I turned on my account. Look, the names at the top are those we've already gotten the Linker Cores of. See, Green Lantern, 'lightning-punchy mage' Negi Springfield, Eternal Sailor Moon, 'some random brown-haired kid with a sword because there was a big group of mercenaries in the way' Lee Syaoran, Sailor Neptune, Sailor Saturn, Sailor Pluto… and there are more names."

"What do those numbers mean?" Zafira said.

"Well, I'll have to ask Shamal, but… it look like how many pages these people can give," Vita said.

They both stared at the screen.

"That's _awfully_ convenient," Zafira said. "I mean, it implies that this 'Chao Lingshen not only knows all about us, but also knows these people, and for some reason has a motive for wanting us to complete the Book of Darkness. That can't possibly be good."

"Maybe they want us to complete it so they can take the book's power for themselves?" Vita speculated.

The screen changed slightly as they received a new email. Frowning, Vita did a little clicking to open it.

_From: Chibi-UsagiPinkHorselover at ChaoCorp dot com_

_To: FrauVitaYagami at Mahoo dot com. _

_This is a timed message. Please do not reply._

_No, we don't want the book's power. We swear on a bath with Hayate. Knock yourself out, just don't hurt/kill anyone. You know, like Hayate-chan doesn't want you to. Though it's a little late at this point._

_Best wishes, Chibi-Usa-chan!_

_P.S. Give my best to Zafira-san, who's standing right next to you_

The two Knights stared at the email.

"Okay, that's just plain freaky," Zafira said. "We should really just delete these email and pretend we never saw them. This is almost certainly a trap."

"There's someone here with the number 200 next to their name," Vita said. "Have you ever heard of anyone named Evangeline?"

"There, that means we can't trust it," Zafira said. "Honestly, who could possibly be that powerful?"

Evangeline, grumbling under her breath as she helped unearth her stash of Negi's clothes, sneezed, causing 5 tons of dirt to drop down on her. "Crap."

Vita nodded, moving the cursor towards the delete button… and paused. "But… what if…?"

They stared at the screen.

...

'Kuro Illya' von Einzbern-Emiya pushed open the door to the house she shared with her 'sister' Illya, the luscious Shiro, the maids Sella and Leysritt, and on occasion their 'parents'. It was strangely quieter than usual and she frowned around as she exchanged her footgear. "Hello? Hey, meidos!"

Heading for the kitchen, she spotted a note on the table. Dropping her bag, she read it. "Dear Illyas. Went to fix up our castle in the woods. Might need to move in there in case of emergency. Probably won't be back until tomorrow or later. Have dinner, keep the house clean, and don't kill any burglars or attempted rapists, hiding the evidence of them dying my magic is difficult. Love, Mom."

Kuro blinked. "We own a castle in the woods?"

Shrugging, she put the note back for Shiro and Illya to read when they came back. It was really unlike Shiro to not be home at this time. Heh, he'd probably been shanghaied into doing something for the archery club. Kuro sniffed. Those wannabes called themselves archers? Hah! Could they shoot a fly's wings off at two kilometers? she wondered where her 'sister' had gone off to. She was feeling a little light-headed, and could do with a little mana…

Grinning, she went to see what Miyu was doing. She felt her Maid Switch snap up as she traipsed off across the street…

Shiro, to his regret, found himself in the crossfire between an Archer Class Servant and a Lancer Class Servant, and two teenaged mages who if anything were fighting even harder to beat the crap out of each other. This could not go well…

...

Clark Kent was having a rare day off. He deserved it, after all. He'd been vey busy, filing all sors of stories, doing research, getting his sources straight, being yelled at by Perry White. Oh, and having to save the day a few times too, he supposed.

So he was spending his day in Smallville, helping his parents out at the farm. Currently, he, his father and Kara were doing some repair work on some of the far fences. It was all very relaxing, simple manual labor that made him feel good for being able to do something constructive, with no super-powers involved beyond swinging a hammer and using a saw.

He didn't notice the high-velocity body passing through the atmosphere until it was too late.

"Superman-sama? Is that _you_?"

Clark froze. Kara stared over his shoulder, the hammer forgotten in her hand, eyes wide open in terror as she absentmindedly kept banging on her thumb. Jonathan Kent, a.k.a. 'Pa', blinked at the confused-looking girl floating in the midst of green light on the other side of the fence.

"Superman-sama?" Green Lantern said in confusion. "Why are you wearing glasses? Aren't you a bit far from Metropolis? And why are you…"

She paused, looking around taking in the saw in Clark's hands, the hammer in Kara's (the head was deforming from hitting her thumb), the nails, the working clothes Clark was wearing, Pa, the wood on the ground, the fence, the general area, and especially the glasses on Clark's face. It was at this point that the 'BUSTED!' expression Clark and Kara were sporting became obvious to her. Panic came over her, and she slapped a hand over her eyes, the other one waving widely. "AH! I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T MEAN SEE… WHATEVER IT IS I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO SEE! I'M SORRY, I'M SO SORRY, I'LL GO AWAY RIGHT NOW AND–!"

Clark put a finger on her hand and gently pushed it down, smiling reassuringly at the poor girl, who was looking up at him in mortification. "It's okay, Green Lantern," he said. "I guess I should have figured this would happen. Did you use your ring to find me?"

Nanoha nodded, for some reason embarrassed. "I had Ring-chan search for you b-because I needed some advise. I'm sorry, I should have told you I was coming somehow…"

"How?" he said, smiling down reassuringly at her. "It's not like you have my phone number. Look, it's all right, Green Lantern. It was an honest mistake."

She returned his smile a bit wanly. Then she clamped her arms around his waist and started to cry…

...

A while later found Nanoha, in her school clothes, sitting in the Kent farm kitchen with a cup of hot milk in her hands, her legs dangling over the chairs edge. Clark had made introductions to try and make the girl feel better, introducing "his cousin Kara and my father, Jonathan Kent". Kara had just looked at Clark for a brief moment before she'd greeted the girl warmly, but Pa Kent hadn't even batted an eye, acting as if his son bringing home prepubescent over-powered superheroine Magical Girls was perfectly ordinary. Of course, given that time he'd come home with a teenaged girl he'd found in outer space…

Nanoha had realized the trust the introduction had conveyed, and she'd hesitantly powered down and introduced herself as Takamachi Nanoha, schoolgirl Green Lantern, bowing in an absolutely cute fashion to the two. The fence had been temporarily abandoned in favor of taking Nanoha to the farmhouse to make her more comfortable, where she'd been introduced to Martha.

It hadn't taken much prompting for Nanoha reveal what was bothering her, and the Clark– and he'd had to insist she call him that because "Friends don't call friends by their job,"– had listened attentively to her fears and worries. It was, surprisingly, not all that different from his own thoughts. If he'd done this, if he'd done that, if he'd been more serious, more responsible. It had been the hardest lesson he'd ever had to learn, as Superman or as Clark.

Sometimes, you failed. But the important thing wasn't how you failed, but how you went on regardless.

"But I _failed_," Nanoha said. "I wasn't able to do my duty!"

"So? Does that mean you'll stop?"

Nanoha paused at that. "No…"

"Then it wasn't a failure. It was a learning experience," Clark said, wishing he didn't sound so trite. "Do you remember when Darkseid brainwashed me?"

Nanoha's fist tightened in anger that Clark knew wasn't directed at him. The girls seemed to take that incident as personally as he did, for some reason.

"I failed then," Clark said quietly. "I failed to keep people from getting hurt. But I'm still trying."

Nanoha frowned, staring intently at her milk.

Ma Kent popped her head in. "Would anyone like cookies?" she offered.

Nanoha brightened. "Yes, please!" she said.

Cookies solved everything…

...

Emiya Shiro had been having a bad night. So far, he'd stayed late at school, been stabbed in the chest with a _frickin' spear_, somehow recovered but was in extreme pain, ran all the way home being chased by a maniac with a spear, and was now bleeding to death in the storeroom in the back yard where his father had sometimes secretly taught him magic ("Don't tell you mother, you sister or the maids, okay? Superheroes don't flaunt who they are"). And now…

"Are you… my Master?"

Now, things were just getting fucked up…

...

"This is too convenient," Signum said as she and Shamal looked over Vita shoulder at the pair of emails.

"That's what I said," Zafira grumbled.

Vita just crossed her arms.

A beat.

"Where is this 'Mahora'?" Signum asked.

Shamal sighed, eyeing the Book reluctantly. "I'll get to work on the Jadeite Servants…"

...

Evangeline stared at Green Lantern, her gaze flat and unamused. "You _what?_"

Green Lantern and a properly suited Negi both smiled widely. "We want to use the resort to help the Sailor Senshi recover their powers faster," Green Lantern repeated herself, bravely outvoting the not-insignificant part of her that wanted to run away from this girl and curl into a ball.

Negi clasped his hands beseechingly. "Please Master," he pleased, his eyes wide and soulfully innocent. "It will only be until morning. Until tomorrow afternoon at most!"

"Why do people keep thinking they can use my resort as their own private playground?-!" Evangeline exclaimed. Nanoha cringed back.

"_Please_ Master?" Negi pleaded, unconsciously putting all his cuteness and shota sex-appeal to bear on the vampires, who hadn't gotten laid in at least 15 years. Evangeline had to use all her centuries of self-control to not visibly blush as her newly-returned underwear suddenly felt a little too tight.

_How does he __**DO**__ that without knowing!-?-!-?-!-?-!-?-!-?-!-?-!_ Evangeline groused in her head, trying not to let her thoughts wander along the lines of what his hands felt like, and how well they'd be able to go in tight, dark places…

"FINE!" Evangeline snapped, desperately needing a drink, a long-soapy shower or possibly finally breaking out those extra-H features Chao had cheekily given her for Chachamaru.

"Yay! Thank you, Master!" Negi said, throwing both arms around the surprised vampire.

Yes, Evangeline considered as her brain began to crash and only her lifetime of experience kept her upright. A drink, a long-soapy shower or breaking out those extra-H features Chao had given her for Chachamaru was definitely in order.

...

"Wow," (Meio) Setsuna said, the duffel bag filled with her things hanging off her shoulder as she, Michiru, Haruka (who was here for moral support and to make out with her girlfriend because she was feeling guilty), Hotaru and Usagi stared out at the resort. "It's bigger inside than it is on the outside!"

"Are you quoting Doctor Who?" Michiru said.

"Of course not!" Setsuna said. "Horrible show, absolutely horrible! Wouldn't be caught dead watching it!"

Hotaru, who kept an eye on the torrent history of the house computer, rolled her eyes.

"You'll need to stay here for the next few days," Negi said (and his presence was not helping Haruka's guilt). "A day in here is an hour outside, so time will fly before you know it. I'll be here with you for the first day, since I can't leave until 24 hours have passed. We'll also be putting another attack victim in here, but you'll probably be gone by then."

"Ah, that explains that weird feeling," Setsuna said. "What should we– hey, where are Neptune and Uranus?"

"They went to find someplace cozy," Hotaru said. The dark-haired young girl turned to Negi, one hand on his forearm. "So, you're a teacher? That sounds _interesting_…"

Setsuna facepalmed, wondering why all her straight compatriots were boy-crazy. After a moment, she realized she was straightening her blouse and thrusting out her chest. Well, the kid _was_ cute…

Usagi had already found the refrigerator, and was devouring the ice-cream…

...

Illya and Miyu walked home tiredly. Their classmates had insisted on seeing a movie that had just come out, and they were only just heading home. Miyu in particular was stressed from their classmates pestering her to 'unlock the Miyu path'!

Thus, they didn't notice the dark shadow lurking beneath a dead lamppost until it barred their path. "Hello, little girliesh…" it slurred, sounding drunk and generally dislikable.

Before the girls could react though, there was an 'erk', and the drunk suddenly collapsed, something metallic clattering to the ground next to him.

"EH?" Illya said in shock, looking around. "W-who did that?-!"

Miyu blinked at her. "Illya-chan?"

"This was the perfect opportunity for some new character to introduce themselves dramatically by rescuing us!" Illya cried. "Where are they?"

Miyu sweatdropped, before looking down and frowning. She picked up a forearm-length piece of black metal, curved and symmetrical, its overall appearance hard to make out in the darkness. She flexed it experimentally, and some catch in it released, and a hinge in the middle bent. Miyu experimentally folded it, unfolded it, and folded it again.

"What did you find there, Miyu-chan?" Illya said as she realized no one was about to dramatically introduce themselves.

Miyu handed it to her. "I can't tell what it is, it's too dark," she said.

Illya frowned down at it, turning it around in her hands. "Let's wait until we get home," she said, walking on the unconscious would-be attacker, tucking the metal thing in her bag. "There might be more of this guy around."

Miyu followed her down the road, the two hurrying now, more alert and looking around.

On top of a building, Batman grunted and chalked one batarang as a loss…

...

Michiru stared at Haruka as Negi stepped out back into the world. "_What_ was that?" she demanded.

"What was what, dear?" Haruka said innocently, her cheeks slightly flushed.

Michiru pointed at where Negi had been. "_That!_ You were fluffing your hair! You don't HAVE hair to fluff! And you were smiling and being all interested and had this goofy 'Minako and Makoto staring at the basketball team' look…!"

"Shame on you, Haruka-mama," Hotaru chided.

"Hey, you were doing it too!" Haruka said defeinsively, glaring at the little girl.

"_I'm_ age appropriate!" Hotaru said. "And anyway, you don't swing that way!"

"Of course I don't!" Haruka said. "So I wasn't doing anything wrong, just, you know, trying something out…"

"You offered to have him sit on your lap," Setsuna said, absolutely deadpan.

"Oh, and you 'accidentally' tripping and ending up nearly squashing him under your chest was appropriate?" Hotaru said.

Michiru rubbed her temples, not really caring what the other two had been doing. Her ire was all directed towards her girlfriend. "Look, you better have a good explanation for this Haruka! What, you just see a hot, young, girlishly pretty boy with nice smooth skin and firm backside… with a cute smile and sexy glasses… that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside…"

Michiru trailed off, blushing brightly.

Haruka stepped forward and put her arms around her lover. "It's okay, Mi-chan," she whispered. "It'll be our little secret…"

Usagi was still eating, and hadn't noticed a thing…

...

Morning came. Vita woke up to find Hayate had taken it upon herself to snuggle the knight against her chest. BSOD followed this revelation.

Signum found herself checking the internet for the armor-piercing properties of roses.

Shamal made breakfast. Contrary to popular belief, she did not screw it up.

Zafira had a nice dream where he was saving the other knights, who had fallen down a well, and had to maul a sparkly vampire to death.

Bruce Wayne, having only gotten into bed a couple of hours before, found himself dreaming, also contrary to popular belief, about solving a complex time-travel mystery with Sherlock Holmes and the Grey Ghost, who for some reason sounded like his father.

Nanoha woke to the beeping of her cellphone, and did not need to be dropped on her head. She walked blearily to the bathroom to relive herself, her brain still too sleep-fogged to notice Miyuki sneaking out of Kyouya's room wearing nothing but an apron and carrying a tray that smelled slightly of pancakes.

Chrono woke up to find himself on his bed on the _Asura_, the ship now back and ready for action, with Amy snuggling next to him clad only in her underwear. He wasn't sure how he felt about still wearing the uniform he'd fallen asleep in.

Aria and Lotte stared at Yuuno, who was just floating there, same place as he'd been yesterday, eyes staring in a slightly sightless manner as around him green light seemed to be in the midst of moving every book in the Infinity Library. "You _sure_ you didn't see him leave to go to the bathroom?" Aria asked Lotte.

Lotte shook her head. "Nope. He's just been standing there while the books did their thing. Is he even using magic?"

The two peered at him closely.

"That's a very nice hat, though," Lotte said. "Very sexy. We should get Chro-suke one like it."

Negi was practicing his forms in the dorm's lawn as the dawn came. He remembered when he'd enjoyed this time of day, back before Evangeline had taken to training him in her resort. It was so cool and quiet, with seemingly only Asuna-san going on her paper route and Makie-chan or some of the other sports girls awake.

There was a sound behind him and he paused, turning. A slightly sleepy-looking Cassandra blinked at him, wearing sweat pants and a light shirt. A towel hung around her shoulders. "Oh, good morning, Cassandra-san. What brings you out at this time?"

In response, Cassandra set her feet apart, raising her arms in a familiar gesture. It was, in fact, the form Negi had started from. She made an inviting come hither gesture with her forward hand, her smile a childish invitation to play. Hesitantly, Negi struck, and she gently parried him, then counter attacked, slightly faster ad stronger than he had. He replied, and the two slowly began to ramp it up…

DING! "Component installation and upgrading completed. Intelligent Device Raging Heart ready!"

Day came.

...

Yotsuba Satsuki cheerfully pushed along the cart with its load of slightly dusty boxes. She'd gotten a timed email from Chao, asking her to move these boxes from the basement of the university's storage rooms. Not being stupid, she'd looked inside one, where she'd found another note from Chao chiding her for not trusting her classmate, while admitting that, yes, it was perfectly reasonable given what had happened last time. The box contained several gynoids, but instead of looking like Chachamaru, they'd been… redesigned. A further note promised that while they'd be capable of a _lot_ of violence, they were programmed not to hurt anybody. Well, that was that, then. Chao never lied about not hurting anybody, though her standards for 'hurt' tended to be a bit flexible.

So Satsuki cheerfully moved the boxes to where Chao had indicated they should go, the way she'd been doing for a week now, and then went to class.

Several boxes of loli-type gynoids wearing red dresses counted down patiently, waiting for the moment they were to activate…

...

There was a lot more planning involved this time.

They'd spent part of the night going over what they could of the lay-out of Mahora Academy, corroborating the e-mail's contents with maps and Google Earth images of the school city in question. There was no way to confirm the e-mail's predictions of where certain people would be, but they'd found partial confirmation. A Negi Springfield was registered as a faculty advisor for a club. Kasuga Misora was listed as a member of the Mahora track team in an old announcement for a sports festival. Takane Goodman had participated in a particularly memorable martial arts tournament earlier that year. It was the most confirmation they could get.

Vita, Signum and Zafira left the house and Hayate in Shamal's care as they went to betraythier Mistress's trust one more time…

For Hayate.

And Shamal thoughtfully considered that maybe they needed a new oath, one more specifically tailored for the situation than the general one they'd been swearing to every new owner of the Book of Darkness that came along. After all, Hayate was special. She mulled the words over in her head as she pushed Hayate along, mouthing them softly.

"_In days of peace, in times of war, protect our Queen forever more…_" she said silently to herself. "_We four Clouds stand, we are her Knights. To guard Hayate, our delight…_"

_What was that, Shamal?_ Signum's voice said.

Shamal blushed, barely managing to keep herself from jerking Hayate's wheelchair. _Darn, did I leave this thing on? Uh, you all heard that?_

_Yes,_ Vita and Zafira said, the latter sounding amused.

_Oh… ah, well, it was just idle silliness. Forget about it… _Shamal said, embarrassed.

…_I liked it…_ Vita's voice said. _I could swear that oath…_

_Hmm…_ Signum said.

_Hmm…_ Zafira said.

_Guys?_ Shamal asked.

A considering silence was her only answer.

...

Lotte was trying to draw on Yuuno's face with a black marker and failing miserably when the mage's eyes suddenly snapped open, eliciting a high-pitched shriek from the familiar. Yuuno blinked several times, rubbing his eyes and yawning. "Ring, power check," he said.

"Ring power at 11 percent," he ring said, its voice sounding not unlike that of Neil Patrick Harris.

"Y-yuuno-san?" Lotte said, trying to hide the marker behind her back.

"A-aria-san?" Yuuno said as all around them the books of the library suddenly stopped flying around, settling into shelves quietly. "I have. I have the information on the Book. It's a little fuzzy, since I haven't been able to read it all, but I've managed to isolate all the information regarding the book and record it in my ring."

"EH?-!" Lotte exclaimed, eliciting a "SHH!" from a passing man in a robe who looked like he'd been drawn by Ayanagi Ran. "So soon?"

Yuuno shrugged. "What can I say? I'm good at this. According to the old archives, 'Book of Darkness' isn't it's true name…"

...

Nanoha was in Mahora supervising Syaoran's ("Get well fast, Syaoran-kun!" Sakura said) transfer into the resort and the Outer's coming out of it (Sailor Moon had gone back home last night, hence why Nanoha had been a little bleary that morning) when the call came in. "Eh?" she said as she air-lifted the girls back to Juuban. "Raging Heart is back in action? That's wonderful news, Amy-san!"

Ring-chan grumbled something unintelligible in Tamaranean. It could be construed it was _not_ a compliment. Nanoha didn't notice.

"Plus the _Asura_ is ready now, so we'll be moving operations into it soon," Amy continued. "The medical bay's prepped, though hopefully we won't need it."

"I wouldn't bet on that," Nanoha said grimly, the ground passing by in a blur. "How's Yuuno-kun?"

"He's managed to find some information on the Book of Darkness," Amy said. "I'll give you the full story later. Or _he_ could. It's in his ring. And he completely organized and catalogued the Library." This last bit came with awe. "The _entire_ ibarary."

"Eh? That doesn't seem so hard."

"You obviously haven't been to the Infinity Library yet. Last I heard, the staff was calling him a god and offering to bear his children. Since only two of the nine staffers are men, that means a lot. The two odd out offered to _raise_ them so he wouldn't have to take time off."

…

"I don't get it," Nanoha said.

...

It was a beautiful, average day in Mahora. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, Takane Goodman had managed to grab her Ministras Mei and Megumi all alone in her room and the three of them were making out on the bed, when they heard a voice.

It was _not_ in their heads. It was actually coming from outside.

"In days of peace, in times of war! Protect our Queen forever more! We four Clouds stand, we are her Knights! To guard our Lady, our delight!"

"Huhh?" Takane said, her words muffled by a mouthful of Mei's tongue.

The door was blasted open suddenly, and a red streak dashed into the room. There was flash, another, and one more, a smell of ozone and suddenly three unconscious mages in preliminary states of disheveled were down.

The red-clad figure who had busted through the door tilted its head as if making a note. "Targets neutralized. Converted Chachamaru unit 21b-Vita objective completed. Moving to secondary objectives. This neutralization bought to you by Chao Bhao Zi."

The gynoid in red loli-goth wear stepped out the door, its hammer in hand and headed outside.

A moment later, the window opened and Vita squeezed in, looking a round and staring at the mess of a door, the three unconscious mages, and the definite lack of opposition. "Well, this is convenient," she said, drawing out the Book of Darkness. "Begin download."

"_Geschreiben._"

...

Somewhere, several timers went down to zero.

BOOM!

In the faculty offices of the university, gas erupted from several innocuous boxes that had been left there sometime that week, which spread rapidly to cover the rooms. Teachers, many confused and not knowing what was going on, coughed and gag, before succumbing to sweet oblivion. The spiral stairway to the underground mage-forces facility was similarly flooded, catching a few fools and slowing the rest as they set up wind spells to keep it from spreading and tried to blow it up the shaft.

In several public areas, similar caches of gas detonated, spreading chaos and confusion amidst the population. Those members of Ala Alba and the schools own forces caught up in the clouds barely managed to keep from being ensnared. Fortunately, it was all so confused not one noticed the relatively small spells they used to block and redirect the gas.

On top of all this, most of the university's power grid went down. In any other school, all this would have been reported, eventually, as a terrorist act. In Mahora… well, let's just say someone was using their desire to keep outside influence low against them.

_Whoa,_ Zafira said, standing in human form and concealing his tail and ears as he stood near the gym, which had also been gassed. _That Chao Lingshen wasn't kidding around when she said no one would notice us coming in, did she?_

_Well, I'll grant her e-mail has been reliable so far,_ Signum replied from where she stood in the midst of the campus's ridiculously large tree. It radiated power beneath her, all useless. It did not have a Linker Core to drain. Might as well download a cartridge. _Initiate the plan. Let's give Vita the time she needs. Shamal, send our backup!_

_Acknowledged, _Shamal said. _Beginning transfer._

At strategic points of the school, hordes of Wolkenritter-shaped upgraded youma suddenly appeared, and systematically began to cause chaos.

The robots actually _dressed_ like the Wolkenritter who also suddenly and coincidentally appeared were also quite helpful at this.

...

At the Harlaown residence, in the command room, an alert came on. The computer dutifully rerouted it to the _Asura_…

Hasegawa Chisame, beautiful beloved idol of thousands Chiu-sama by day and 'wondering at what point had she lost her mind' English Culture Research Club (Ala Alba!) member specializing in tech support, hacking, level-headed advice and lampshading Ministra Magi The Calculator by night, barricaded herself in her room, trying to get online. All cellphones and the phone lines appeared to be down, and something seemed to be jamming Pactio-to-Pactio telepathic contact. She'd been in enough trouble to guess at the scale of this problem from the sound effects alone, and it wasn't sounding good. She needed to get in contact with some of the more abnormal members of Ala Alba, or failing that find a way to get word out for help!

She paused, reviewed her previous thoughts, and hung her head in shame. Then she determinedly grabbed her computer and Pactio Card, hesitantly unlocked her door, looked both ways, and ran for it. Options scrolled though her. Where to go? Where might not be affected by all these mundane resource loses?

A thought struck her and she ran, hoping she'd make it there…

On the way back to Uminari, Nanoha answered her ring. "Yes, Amy-chan?"

"Nanoha! You need to get back to Mahora. They're there! The Wolkenritter are there!"

Nanoha turned and broke the sound barrier. "I'll be there in a few minutes. Where are Fate-chan and Arf-san?"

"Transferring in," Amy said. "I've sent them Raging Heart."

Nanoha smiled widely.

...

Kuzunoha Touko went down, the gas-addled swordswoman too disoriented to avoid Vita's attack to the back of her head.

"Geschreiben."

Vita looked around widely, making sure there was no one to spot her. This was the 3rd mage she'd managed to drain since the first three, though this was the only one she'd needed to render unconscious first. The other two had already been taken by the gas her e-mail had predicted. She'd managed to find the dark-skinned girl with the tattoos on her faces in front of the convenience store, and the other had been passed out in his car, still holding a cigarette.

It was inefficient, but they'd resolved to only go after the strongest or a anyone already vulnerable rather than confronting people directly for their Cores. Confusion and misdirection would be their weapons in this fight rather than direct, overt power. This had to be explained to Vita multiple times. She'd been sent to collect while the other two distracted because she was small and better able to conceal herself if need be, and unlike Zafira would be better able to fight her way out if caught. Plans had a nasty habit of going bad on this world.

The download finished, and Vita made sure the woman was down for the count, then tried to make her comfortable, straightening her quickly so she wouldn't be all cramped upon waking. Then she concentrated on her search spell, trying to pinpoint the next possibly vulnerable target…

...

"Raging Heart! I've missed you so!" Nanoha cried as he met Fate and Arf in a clearing some miles outside of Mahora.

"My master. It is good to see you again."

Nanoha held the Device in her hands, feeling the warmth coming front it as it reconnected to her magic. She began to chant. "I am the one who has been given a mission,' Nanoha said, and the warmth spread like truth. " Under the contract, release these powers. The winds are in the sky, the stars are in the heavens, the light is in my hands and the power is in my heart! And I shall shed my light over dark evil, for the dark things cannot stand the light, the light of the Green Lantern! Raging Heart Emerald Excelion, Set Up!"

Light flared, and magic wove around Nanoha as she felt the familiar comforting presence of her Barrier Jacket wrapping itself around her once more. She twirled Raging Heart in an instinctive gesture, and thrust one fist to the sky. "Magical Girl Green Lantern, Zenryoku Zen_kai! __Ready for action!_"

Arf clapped. Fate sighed in amusement.

Nanoha rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "Sorry, but I've been wanting to do that for _days_ now. What's the situation?"

"Wolkenritter," Fate said. "Signum and Zafira, along with those drone things they bought last time. No sign of the others."

Nanoha frowned. "Vita-chan will be there," she said. "She always is. If we couldn't see her there, then there's a reason. Any word from Ala Alba?"

"None. Something took down all communications," Fate said.

Nanoha turned to look in the direction of Mahora, her hands clasping Raging Heart. It looked much the same, the haft near its gem slightly bigger now, with a cartridge magazine at one point and a handle jutting out a little bit lower down. At the end of the handle was a circular array, the only other sign of the Device's extensive upgrades. Her Barrier Jacket was much the same with some minor additions, and already it glowed with green Corps symbols, courtesy of Ring-chan.

"Confusion. Chaos. Many innocents possibly caught in between," Nanoha summarized. Her gaze firmed. "Let's go."

...

**- To be continued...**

...

A/N: Just watched the episode 3rd of the Negima Magical World OVA. It struck me as funny that, in the scene where Chachamaru is targeting Negi with her pocket punch, in the upper right corner is the words 'lovelove'. Also, loli!Chisame panty shot! Asuna special 'Breasts to the Face Attack'! If you look at the close-shot of Asakura's Pactio card, you'll see that the little spiral of pictures consists of the covers of Negima, Love Hina and some of the colored page spreads. Hmm, how to get Love Hina into this…

And I've just noticed, but in the colored covers, Arika also has Heterochromia, with her eyes the same color as Asuna. Hmm…

Well, incest is best, put your possible aunt to the test!

Haruna's first words upon coming out of Cosmo Entelekhia are 'World Domination'. Oh, this is going to be so much fun…

I decided Hayate was not to have her heart attack yet. So there.

BTW, I need names for random magical students for the next chap. Do the reviewers and forum readers mind if I use ones inspired by them?

Please review, C&C welcome.

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	16. Even With A Cold, Eva Can Still KICK ASS

A/N: Hi again to:** Jorlem, Drakensis, Paladindythe, yesilmavi, Rob Kelk, Florin, Stephen Mann, Foxboy, Necratoid,** **LilFluff, Bob Schroeck, sweno,** **blackaeronaut, Acyl, Manytales00, nocarename, Timote, werehawk, Cobalt Greywalker, M Fnord, CattyNebulart, Morganni and the restof the Drunkard's Walk Forum crew!**

Hi also to: **Khaos, Narf the Mouse, biigoh, Winchester, MrEmperor, mkire, firefossil.**

Just to remind everyone, this is set after the magical world arc. Don't forget to check out _**FATE/Holy Grail war of 2814**_, happening concurrently. Sngr/Mreb Pnfgre vf Shgher Unlngr!

Just a rundown of the series in this crossover_**: MGL Nanoha A's, the DCAU, Negima, Card Captor Sakura, Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya, Fate/Stay Night, Iono the Fanatics, Sailor Moon, **_and_** Gate Keepers 21**_, just to name a few. Did I miss anything?

TvTropes, dattebayo!

...

Takamachi Nanoha of 2814

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 16: The Linker Cores War, Part 10: Fire From The Sky or "Even With A Cold, Evangeline Can _Still_ KICK ASS!"

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story. If I did… well, this would all be canon. WARNING: MAY CAUSE HEAD EXPLOSION!

...

It was a beautiful, average day in Mahora. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, several buildings had been attacked by knockout gas, and several groups of make-them-yourself magical minion drones and hi-tech robots were going around causing trouble but not, for some reason, actually hurting anyone.

If this was the school festival, this _would_ actually be an average day. As it was, it was just a normal day gone slightly bad. And it had been _so_ promising too…

...

_Earlier that day…_

It was a beautiful, average day in Mahora. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and Yukihiro Ayaka was up early answering some internet correspondence. Her friend Argent Ephemeral Vincent, head of security for Queen Iono Mito Archeline of Ibayamia, had asked her if they could meet up on her next day off, which was coming soon. She'd met the younger girl on a trip to the small European country, and they'd managed to bond over tea.

Tomoyo had sent her pictures of her finished helicopter. Technically, it was her newest helicopter. She also had a few jet fighters, a Red Eyes Black Dragon jet, and a genuine Gotham PD blimp. Just like everything else Tomoyo became interested in– making clothes, her friend Sakura, singing, her friend Sakura, self-defense, her friend Sakura, sex, her friend Sakura, Lex Corp and her friend Sakura– it was over the top, done with all her heart and highly disturbing. Seriously, who builds a working, fully armed replica of an attack helicopter for fun? The REBD jet made sense, but really!

Putting the finishing touches on a letter to Suzuka sympathizing about her friend Hayate, Ayaka sent it off and reluctantly turned off her browser. Then she booted it up again to see if that troll who was flaming Green Lantern in her forum was still around. Finally turning it off, she headed for the shower, sparing an annoyed glare for Kotaro. Honestly, she understood that Natsumi was the only one he could go to, but did he have to crowd her in bed like that? He'd have to be weaned off that eventually. It wasn't done, sleeping with his head cuddled against her chest, such as it was, like that.

As Ayaka had her shower the two Murakami 'siblings' stirred. Kotaro nuzzled. Natsumi groggily bobbed the top of his head. "Not where people can see, Kotaro…" she said sleepily. "We'll make out later…"

Negi was practicing his forms in the dorm's lawn as the dawn came. He remembered when he'd enjoyed this time of day, back before Evangeline had taken to training him in her resort. It was so cool and quiet, with seemingly only Asuna-san going on her paper route and Makie-chan or some of the other sports girls awake.

There was a sound behind him and he paused, turning. A slightly sleepy-looking Cassandra blinked at him, wearing sweat pants and a light shirt. A towel hung around her shoulders. "Oh, good morning, Cassandra-san. What brings you out at this time?"

In response, Cassandra set her feet apart, raising her arms in a familiar gesture. It was, in fact, the form Negi had started from. She made an inviting come hither gesture with her forward hand, her smile a childish invitation to play. Hesitantly, Negi struck, and she gently parried him, then counter attacked, slightly faster ad stronger than he had. He replied, and the two slowly began to ramp it up…

Yotsuba Satsuki cheerfully pushed along the cart with its load of slightly dusty boxes. She'd gotten a timed email from Chao, asking her to move these boxes from the basement of the university's storage rooms. Not being stupid, she'd looked inside one, where she'd found another note from Chao chiding her for not trusting her classmate, while admitting that, yes, it was perfectly reasonable given what had happened last time. The box contained several gynoids, but instead of looking like Chachamaru, they'd been… redesigned. A further note promised that while they'd be capable of a _lot_ of violence, they were programmed not to hurt anybody. Well, that was that, then. Chao never lied about not hurting anybody, though her standards for 'hurt' tended to be a bit flexible.

So Satsuki cheerfully moved the boxes to where Chao had indicated they should go, the way she'd been doing for a week now, and then went to class.

Several boxes of loli-type gynoids wearing red dresses counted down patiently, waiting for the moment they were to activate…

Evangeline sneezed. "I. Hate. Colds!" she growled.

"Master, you cannot afford to be absent today," Chachamaru chided.

"Why not?" Evangeline snapped.

"Negi-sensei is still wearing his new suit, which is tight around the region of his gluteus maximus."

"Break out the cold medicine! Education is important!"

"As you say, mistress…"

...

_Now…_

"Confusion. Chaos. Many innocents possibly caught in between," Haruna said. "Is the school festival early and no one remembered to tell me?"

She and the other Library Club girls– Yue, Nodoka, and Konoka– ran down Sakura Lane, which was where they'd been walking when all the chaos had happened. Fortunately, the place hadn't been attack by… whatever. Their phones had all gone dead, and Pactio Telepathy was similarly gone. They currently had no way to contact everyone else, or even see if they were okay.

They were planning to change that.

They slipped out of the path, moving between the cherry tries to a clearing Kaede had found and told them about. They knew of many such private areas in the school, though this was the first time they'd needed to use them for actual super-heroicy things.

Reaching the clearing, they all drew their Pactio Cards. "_Adeat!_"

...

"Headmaster!" Valles cried, rushing into the central monitor womb of Mahora. Fortunately, systems and power were online, but many of their outside input was crippled. "We just received word over the message tubes!"

"Those old things?" the Headmaster, who had been conducting an inspection downstairs and had been lucky enough to miss the explosion that had gassed his office. "What is it?"

Valles pulled out a cell phone. "Someone send this down, with several pictures marked."

The Headmaster took it and stared at the first picture. "Haruna-san has been at her sketch pad again, I see," Konoemon said, staring at the picture of a giant white wing floating above the campus. "Not very subtle, though. The Masquerade Department is going to go nuts over this." He put down the cell phone. "What else?"

"Many of the teachers appear to have been neutralized," Valles said. "Takamichi-sensei, Kuzunoha-sensei, Gandolfini-sensei, Seruhiko-sensei, all haven't reported in yet. Those that have are either trying to control the students or have engaged the enemy. The system that's limiting Dark Evangel's power is still up, though, and seems to have been reinforced. We can't bring it down."

"What about the active students themselves?" Konoemon asked.

"As you can see, at least one part of Ala Alba is trying to rally," Valles said, a touch of awe at the name. "SEES is apparently mobilizing, and we already have some reports of students fighting against the enemy, though some seem to think this is a repeat of the School Festival Final Event."

Konoemon sighed. "Bless our students."

"Sir!" Talia cried from where she was trying to restore visual monitoring. "We just barely managed to pick up a telepathic message! Green Lantern-san has arrived on the scene!"

...

"Oh, poot," Nanoha said, looking down on the scene. Even from their height, they could make out several groups of those drones the Wolkenritter had used in Juuban. The Wolkenritter were hard to spot, since there seemed to be several of the youma dressed exactly like them.

"They've changed tactics again," Arf noted grimly. "And now more innocent people are involved."

Fate shook her head slowly, looking at the clouds of smoke, which we slowly dissipating. "No. Signum wouldn't do this. She's not like that. And where would they get access to the these explosives?"

"Scans indicate that the smoke is in fact a chemical," Ring-chan supplied. "There may be allergic reactions and other adverse side effects."

Nanoha gasped. "Oh no…"

Fate put a hand on her shoulder. "It's all right. Get the victims to medical aid. Arf and I will try to contact Ala Alba and deal with the Knights."

"We could start looking over by that giant white wing," Arf pointed out. "Cause, you know, where would we start?"

They all stared at the giant white wing floating over a part of the campus.

"Haruna-san is going to have a lot of explaining to do…" Nanoha noted.

"Don't you make stuff like that all the time?" Arf asked.

"Yes, but I'm a Magical Girl who's known for it," Nanoha said. "Haruna-san's not supposed to be doing that."

"Ahem," Ring-chan interrupted.

"Oh, right," Nanoha said, embarrassed. "Do you think you can find the Wolkenritter by yourself, Fate-chan?"

"I'll manage," Fate reassured her, straightening her mask.

Nanoha nodded. "And don't forget to introduce yourselves properly, you two! If you don't have a proper introduction prepared, you might accidentally let your real name slip, and that would be bad."

Fate blushed. "Is it really necessary?"

"Of course!" Nanoha declared. "Magical Girls always introduce themselves properly. Otherwise, it's just rude!"

Arf giggled at the look on her master's face.

"Your mask is a bit crooked, Arf-san," Nanoha said said.

Arf pouted. "Familiars weren't meant to where masks!" she complained. "I spend most of my time as a wolf anyway!"

"You'll get used to it," Green Lantern reassured. "Ring-chan, lead me to the closest group of gas victims. Maintain a passive scan for Wolkenritter, drones or Alba. Inform when we are approached."

"Yes ma'am," the Ring said.

"Raging Heart, you do the same."

"Acknowledged, my Master."

Fate and Nanoha exchanged one last nod, and the Green Lantern flew off.

Fate raised Bardiche. "Bardiche, Area Scan!"

"Yes, sir."

...

"Where is she, Eimi-chan?" Ryuus said, tapping at the crackling earpiece he was wearing. Eimi had been barely able to get them rudimentary communications as it was, never mind scanning for their enemy. "I can't see her!"

"She should be right there," was the nearly unintelligible reply. "Have you looked up?"

Ryuus looked up. Nope, no target. "Nothing!" he growled. "SEES, what about you guys?"

The other members of the Special Extracurricular Emergency Squad responded, their voices garbled. "Nothing back here," Emmet said, "Just– Ah–!"

"Emmet!" Ryuus cried. "Everyone, who's closest to Emmet-kun?"

"I am!" Yukari said. "He was by the fruit stand. Everyone, converge! We've got her no– AH!"

"Yukari!" Ryuus said. "Eimi, where is she? And where's Minako and Mitsuru?"

"They're down, they're not moving. She's moving too fast, Ryu, I can't get a– no wait, she's there, she's right above you! Look out!"

Ryuus snapped up his wand, incanting even as he jumped back, knowing how this went in movies. "_Take Off Their Pants!_" he cried out his Key, beginning the incantation. "Sagitta Magica, Spiritus Ignis…"

Three things happened.

One, Ryuus realized there was no one above him.

Two, the ground beneath his feet exploded, and a wash of sewer stench rose up as a hole to the sewers was bashed apart, revealing he disgusted face of their quarry, hammer raised to strike.

Frantically, he tried to finish the spell, and that was when the third thing happened.

He sneezed.

The spell collapsed, in time for him to catch a rising knee to the forehead, knocking his head back at he same time that a mallet struck his gut, knocking the wind out of him. The last thing he saw as consciousness was taken from him was a close-up view of a pair of pedobear panties…

Vita took the time to reset her Armor to get rid of the sewer smell, what little had latched on. Otherwise she'd _never_ be able to do any sneaking. She pulled out he Book of Darkness, held it out over her latest target. "Download," she commanded.

The student writhed beneath her, and she made a frustrated sound. This group of students had barely given her 14 pages, all in all. She'd need more.

She turned and flew off, flying low and darting between obstacles to conceal her presence as much as possible.

Cassandra Doe removed herself from where she'd been hidden and knelt down to check the fallen boy's life-signs, the way she'd been taught to make sure someone was dead. He was not. She ignored the old, old instinct to correct that, and frowned in the direction where the hurting-inside girl had flown off. She'd tried to get the unconscious ones she'd found out of harms way, even cute-face-marks girl, who seemed a little off.

Frowning, she continued following the flying girl. She couldn't let her keep doing this. She was hurting people…

...

World Tree Plaza. Signum was quite annoyed to learn that she'd been immediately pin-pointed as a leader-figure, though not for any sane reason she had ever considered until that day.

"See, she's flying, and she looks badass," one student was telling his friend, pointing his camera phone at Signum. "That means she's the leader. It's obvious, really."

Signum, fighting off a pair of teenagers who thought they were in a King of Fighters game, threw the one in a gi at the commentator to shut him up. It felt strangely cathartic.

The various Jadeite Servants around her caused chaos, an activity assisted in by the fact some students had suddenly wrapped various pieces of cloth around their face, or put on sunglass or goggles, and started attacking them with spells. She was beginning to agree with Vita. The TSAB were obviously on some sort of hallucinogenic substances when they'd declared that this world had few mages. If this world had no mages, than she had so few hairs she was bald!

_Do you find it disturbing some people are taking pictures and setting up concession stands? _Zafira asked her.

_Concession stands?_ Signum said, blinking and dodging two masked students trying to hit her with some kind of wind spell. One of the idiots kept saying _Expelliarmus_, like that would actually do anything. She tripped him, and knocked the side of his head to knock him unconscious.

"Thanks," his friend told her.

She nodded solemnly in agreement, then kicked him in the groin. The butt of Laevatein applied to his head sent him off to join his friend. _They're set up CONCESSION STANDS?_

_Someone named Boxcutter My Own Larynx Diburel is selling hotdogs,_ Zafira confirmed.

_What was the name of that city Vita liked the sound of again? Gotham? Not in Japan, right?_

"Kyokudai Raimeiken!"

Signum barely avoid the blast of electricity that streaked down from the skies at her. She rolled, coming up with her sword ready. "Testarossa?"

A dark-haired girl in an honest-to-Hayate maid uniform she vaguely remembered from so many days ago floated above her, white wings spread wide and flapping, a long blade of differing designs in each hand. She wore a pair of glasses, which glinted in the light. Spectators squealed and there was a sudden taking of pictures.

The girl ignored it all. "Wolkenritter!" she cried, her words a challenge. "I am AngelGARd of Ala Alba! By the authority extended to me by the Time-Space Administration Bureau by way of Green Lantern, the National Office for the Deputization of Freelance Law-Enforcers, Magical Girls Division, and the Mahora Academy Security Office, you are under arrest! Surrender!"

Signum resisted the urge to boggle at the credentials. "Never," she said.

The two stared at each other. Then there was a flicker and the sounds of metal striking metal echoed through the World Tree Plaza.

At the edge of it, Signum faintly heard someone crying out, "Hotdogs in a bun! Get your hotdogs in a bun…!"

...

Chisame turned the corner, skidded to a halt, turned around, and ran right back, flattening herself against the wall of the building and trying to be as quiet as possible. "Chao, wherever you are, I hope shrieking eels are eating your toes off, you rotten bitch," she swore.

She waited, but heard no pursuit. She looked up, knowing how this sort of thing went. No, no flying robots around her. None to either side as well. Slowly, she looked around her corner.

About six gynoids stood around the Chao Bao Zi cart, wearing different clothes and sporting different hairstyles, but all with those distinctive ear antenna things. Two were loli-sized, dressed in red with rather nice hats. The rest were regular sized, two in green dresses with their own hats, two in pink armor. They weren't doing anything overtly threatening, just stood there. The place was clear of people, though, except for Satsuki, who was apparently cleaning up and closing down early.

"Six…" Chisame muttered. "Just barely have enough sprites. Well, here's to see if this idea works…"

Chisame had had a lot of time to consider applications of her Artifact. Never had its limits been more obvious to her than the time she'd been stuck in the middle of a jungle. She had in fact taken to carrying a pocket dynamo for her cellphone so she'd always have access to her sprites. You'd think an obviously Magical Girl wand would at least have a blast function but _no_!

For what it _could_ do, however, it was hell on wheels. And she was in her element. "_Adeat,_" she muttered, feeling her clothes shift to her preferred Biblion Roulan Rouge outfit with nekomimi elements. She slipped on a pair of disguises glasses. They'd bought a whole bunch of those lately.

"Chiu-sa–" her sprites began.

"SHH!" she hissed. "None of that! Be quiet. You will all sit down and shut up, and if you bust me I swear I'm reformatting all of you. Clear?"

They all nodded, shaking in terror.

Chisame coughed, embarrassed. "Right. This is what you're going to do…"

A few minutes later, Chisame rounded the corner and walked boldly towards the cart, her Artifact twirling negligently in her hands, her pocket PC in hand. The gynoids soon saw her.

"Halt!" one of the green-clad blonde ones said. "Leave this area, or be assaulted."

"I'm just here to buy some meat buns," Chisame said, smiling widely for all she was worth. "I'll just be quick."

"Unfortunately, Chao Bao Zi is closed for the duration of this emergency," one of the red ones said. "Thank you, however, for choosing Chao Bao Zi for your meat bun needs. When all this is over, please come again. Try our new Braised Beef with Mushrooms."

Chisame nodded, still smiling inanely. How the heck could Sasaki smile like this all day? "Have you heard of Tony Stark?" she asked.

The gynoids all tiled their heads questioningly, and she wondered whether that kind of body language was something Chachamaru had been programmed with as part of her firmware. They didn't attack her however, so she continued. "There was this time in the comic books when he got these implants, or maybe it was nanotech, I don't know, I'm not really a Marvel person. Anyway, there was this time when Tony Stark became able to control his armor with his mind, so they ended up with stories with asspull endings along the lines of 'while we've been talking here, and you thought I was incapacitated, I've been hacking your system and now I control you doohickey'. You know, stuff like that."

Chisame's mouth relaxed, the smile on her face becoming a touch more genuine.

"Anyway, the reason I'm bringing this up is…" she sighed. "While we've been talking here, my electron sprites have been infiltrating your systems, disabling your legs. And now, I'm going to hack you. _Ego Electrium Regno!_"

There was a moment of disorientation as the effect took place, and suddenly she was in cyberspace. Six shining targets floated before her and she attacked mercilessly…

She opened her eyes, finding herself being supported by one of the red-clad gynoids. "Which one are you?" she said fuzzily.

"Kincha, Chiu-sama!" it chirped happily.

"Not Chiu-sama," Chisame said. She sighed, and felt her growing a little less normal. It felt frighteningly easy. "Calculator-sama. Which of you doesn't have a body?"

"Me, Calculator-sama!" the one remaining electron spirit said. "Shirataki!"

Chisame nodded. "I'll have a job for you. The rest of you, prepare failsafe programs. If you lose control of those bodies, they're to shut down, understand?"

"Yes, Calculator-sama!" the gynoids chorused.

I can't believe you pulled off a Tony Stark asspull 'standing here hacking you' like that, Chisame, Satsuki said, smiling at her as she swept nearby.

"Yeah, it really hurt inside, pulling off such a stupid move," Chisame said as she got to her feet, watching her classmate warily. "You wouldn't have anything to do with our little problem right now, would you?"

I might, Satsuki said apologetically. But Chao-san said no one was going to get hurt.

Chao. She knew it. "She said that _last _time too," Chisame pointed out.

And besides Chao herself, no one really got hurt, Satsuki said.

Chisame just sniffed. "Are the cart's system operational? Can it still fly?"

Satsuki nodded.

"I'll need to borrow it, then," Chisame said. "I need to reestablish communications, send for help from…" She paused, considering what to say. "I need to send for help," she finished lamely. After all, how safe was it to tell Satsuki anything?

Satsuki sighed. I thought you might. Well, I suppose after helping Chao, helping you too is the least I can do.

"Damn straight," Chisame said. She turned to the pair of carts that made up Chao Bao Zi. "Do they both fly?"

No, just the one, Satsuki said. The other one is in case of emergency. Chao and Hakase built it after watching this movie, but we've never really had to use it. I suppose now is as good a time as any.

Chisame frowned at her. "What does it do?"

Satsuki coughed, and pulled a keyring from her pocked. The ring had a box black plastic hanging from it, like one of those electronic car controls. She pushed a button on it. _Chao-Bao-Zi-con, Transform and Rise Up!_ Satsuki commanded in a loud, clear voice.

There was a rather distinct sound, like someone blowing through clenched teeth, seven distinct notes, clear as day over the sound of metal components shifting, turning, and rearranging. Chisame stared upwards as the ground shook, a giant beginning to loom over her.

"I am Meat Bun Supreme!" the former serving cart said.

"Chao, you crazy bitch," Chisame said breathlessly.

She might have been a crazy bitch, Satsuki said noncommittally, but she had _style_.

"No opportunity to use it, huh?" Chisame said sarcastically.

Satsuki smiled. It wouldn't have been sporting during the School Festival.

...

Cassandra pulled Asuna out of sight just as the hurting-inside girl rounded the corner of the convenience store. There was no gas here, but there seemed to be what looked like electric burn marks on Asuna's back, and she'd been unconscious when Cassandra had found her. There'd been things that moved like Chachamaru. Cassandra had avoided them. Unlike Chachamaru, they didn't smile.

Making Asuna as comfortable as possible, she continued following the girl, who was becoming frustrated now, and wanted to eat ice-cream, and was getting annoyed at not fighting people the way she wanted to. Cassandra couldn't fathom that. If you were going to fight people, why _not_ do it the way _you_ wanted? Otherwise, you were just handing them an advantage. Losing even one advantage was not to be tolerated!

Shaking off the shadows of her childhood, Cassandra trailed behind. They were moving father away from the city center now, out towards the woods. She'd explored it a little in her free time, and there was only one thing out here of any significance. Should she race on ahead, try and intercept the hurting-inside girl? No, she might be wrong. Getting ahead of herself and assuming was a good way to blow the mission…

Shaking away those thoughts again, she followed the red-clad hurting-inside girl, sneaking behind her and running slightly when the girl began to fly. She knew these woods, however, a little. She managed to keep moving quietly, she managed to keep up with the girl, just barely keeping her in sight.

Evangeline's cabin was just ahead, a circle of newly dug and re-turfed patch on the front lawn. Cassandra arrived in view in time to see the girl bash the front door open.

Cassandra ran faster…

...

Nanoha bought the last batch of gas victims to the Mahora University Hospital. The place was good. She knew that. She'd personally inspected the place for shady experiments and programs and checked for weird doctors who might be going off the deep end when she'd first checked Mahora due to those anomalous ion readings. The Headmaster had assured her they did the same thing, and now that she was more familiar with the administration, she was more willing to believe it.

Currently, the lawn and parking lot was filled with stretchers and temporary cots full of those who'd been affected. While not a lot of people had been affected, relative to the overall student population, there were enough that it was more efficient for doctors and nurses to come outside than to bring them all in.

"That's the last of them, Cox-sensei," she told the man who seemed to be in charge. "Will you be able to handle all of them, or will I have to send some of them to other hospitals?"

"No need to worry your pretty little head off, glow-bulb," Cox said, as he bent over and checked the vitals of the nearest victim, jotted it down on a blank piece of paper, tucked it under the victim's head for whoever would be tending him and moved to the next. "We're handling it just fine. Had a few allergies, but no one seriously hurt, thank goodness. _Hey, House! Get your ass over here!_ Why don't you be a good girl and kick the ass of whoever did this, okay?"

Nanoha nodded grimly. "Hai, sensei," she said, and he smirked, giving her a thumbs up.

There was a popping sound behind her, and she turned, Raging Heart in one hand, her ring blazing in the other.

"Ah! Please don't hurt me!" the boy behind her cried.

"Huh," Cox said. "Where did you come from?"

"Th-the Headmaster sent me," the boy said. "My name is Sora, class 3-A. I have a message for Green Lantern-sama."

"A message?" Nanoha said.

Sora nodded. "We have the confirmed location of one of the possible terrorist leaders. They're in the World Tree Plaza, fighting…" he hesitated. "A winged-girl in a meido outfit with two big swords."

Nanoha frowned. "Any other sightings?"

The boy shook his head. "Sorry, Green Lantern-sama."

"Well, thank you," Nanoha said.

The boy nodded jerkily, hand thrusting into his pocket. A few balls fell out and there was an explosion of more smoke. He staggered off, coughing and muttering to himself about Sasuke making it look easy.

Cox sniffed. "Ninja," he said derisively. "Get going, super hero. Kick ass."

Nanoha nodded and lifted off. "Ring-chan, Raging Heart, Area Scan! Find me…" Vita? No. As much as she would like to continue her fight with the red-clad knight and knock sense into her, she needed to have her priorities. As dangerous as letting the Wolkenritter run around filling the pages of the Book of Darkness was in the long term, right now people were more immediate danger from their drones. Their safety needed to be her priority. Setsuna-san was fighting Signum, so that took care of that, and Fate-chan would find them soon and support the older girl. The other members knew what the rest of the Wolkenritter looked like, and so would know to take care of them too.

For a moment, she wondered where Negi was. He should have been healed up enough to fight. Where was he?

She shook these speculations away. "Find the highest concentration of enemy troops," she said. "Let's try out our new teamwork."

"Yes, my Master."

"Yes Ma'am."

...

"Keep moving!" Negi told the students, herding them away from area of fighting near the gym, where Kaede was fighting the blue-clad Wolkenritter. "Move in an orderly fashion but keep moving! We don't know how dangerous these people are."

"Aw, come on child teacher!" a high school student whined. "The fight's getting good! I mean, it's a ninja versus an evil overlord and his army! Plus he's using chains and you know what happens to ninja girls when they're fighting someone who uses rope-like things…"

Negi blinked in confusion as the student and some nearby boys– and some girls as well– snickered lecherously. He decided to ignore it and power on through. "No, it's too dangerous! I think these are the same people who attacked the Sailor Senshi a few days ago. You've seen the news! If they use that big energy blast again, we could all die!"

Ku bopped the student on the head. "You do what Negi-sensei say, aru!" she said. "This bad place to be! Just watch La Blue Girl like everyone else, okay, aru?"

"Aw, Chairman Ku!" the student whined, but moved on, he and his friends grumbling to themselves about not being able to see the results of a ninja… fight.

Negi smiled thankfully at his student, who nodded back to him, and they continued getting people out of the scene. He wasn't an idiot. Many of his sparring partners and indeed at least one of the people who taught him how to fight considered this a horrible weakness on his part. He agreed, to a degree, if only with the part of himself that regretted he couldn't be more like his father. His father would have run blindly into the fray, magic blazing, ready to kick ass, take names, look absolutely cool doing it, and come out smelling like a rose.

Negi was coming to know he wasn't his father. More than once, people, himself among him have noted his personality made him more like his mother's son. While Nagi Springfield was never unmindful of his responsibilities, he tended not to 'sweat the small stuff', a fact that Evangeline wanted to have words– and spells– with him about. Arika, however, had not only sweated the small stuff, she'd bled, been cast down from her throne, been disgraced, been imprisoned, had suffered for years, and eventually jumped down into her own doom with the grace of a swan and the poise of a true queen for them. The only difference between her and her son was that Negi had not yet had the opportunity to do so.

He knew what his father would have done. And he knew what his mother would have done. If he went there to fight this out… The Wolkenritter were good. They'd proven that. He'd need to bring large amounts of power to bear. Whenever that happened, the landscape tended to suffer. His fight with Kagetaro had proven _that_. The lack of damage during his fight with Fate over tea and coffee had been mostly due to assistance from Asuna and Fate's control of the situation. Right now, his responsibilities as a teacher was to get students out of here and to a safe distance. Ku was there because, as much good as she would do in a fight, right now he needed her authority as Chairman of the Martial Arts Clubs to be taken just a _bit_ more seriously.

And when he'd gotten all the students out of this area– dark swirls began to flicker on the backs of his hands– there would be hell to pay…

...

Evangeline was having a really bad day. Her cold had gotten worse in class, prompting Negi to send her to the infirmary, which had sent her home. She was currently simultaneously feeling very hot and very cold, her nose was running harder than a really corrupt politician, her headache pounded like crazy, her libido was going rabid at that morning's sight of Negi in his new, very sexy suit, Chachazero and Chamo were in the resort either making out, drinking or planning something, and Chachamaru was off to buy her some medicines, so she didn't even have anyone to boss around. To top it off, she'd lost power right in the middle of playing To Heart, and she hadn't saved in a while, which meant all that effort was lost.

She was, point in fact, having a really bad day.

She was just shuffling out of the kitchen clutching a mug of the tea Chachamaru had left and muttering about the moon when some idiot broke down her door. "Ohh, vat nowv?" she said through her stuffed nose.

A girl in a red dress, with a rather nice hat that Eva wouldn't mind having (but in some other color, mind you, she still had working eyeballs) and carrying a croquet mallet strode through the remains of the doorframe. Evangeline told herself she was too old to think of it as 'a whole lot of sharp, pointy stakes'.

Vita stared at the girl with almost floor-length blonde hair in front of her. About Vita's size, she was wearing a sweaty nightgown, pinky fuzzy bunny slippers that Vita herself wouldn't have minded owning, with sunken, bloodshot eyes, shaking hands carrying a mug of something that steamed, and wrapped in big, fluffy robe. What appeared to be a bag of ice was tied to her head. "Damn, you look almost too pathetic to hurt. _You're_ the most powerful mage in this place? Give me a break. Looks like Zaffy was right, that email was full of it after all."

Evangeline's eyes narrowed. "Dyou oww me a nyew door, girl," she said, voice dangerously placid, if a little nasal. Damned cold! "Ghet owt of my houwz before I kick dyour azz."

Vita rolled her eyes, pulling out the Book of Darkness, plainly not listening or giving a damn. "Well, might as well give you a try." She hefted her hammer. "This might hurt a lit–"

Evangeline's hands blurred, and scalding hot tea slammed into Vita's face inside a mug that was doing moving at an appreciable velocity. It shattered on impact, the shards cutting her face as she howled in pain, fury and surprise. Something yanked out Graf Eisen out of her hands, before a fist traveling at a decent fraction of the speed of sound slammed square into her gut, doubling her over, eyes wide and bulging comically.

"Ahai haff had a bery bad day," Evangeline said, one foot sweeping the girl's feet out from under her and dropping her to her to the floor. Eva's elbow, accelerating at 9.81 meters per second squared, almost simultaneously slammed into Vita's back with all the blonde vampire loli's weight behind it. "Dank dyou for bolunteering to help me reliebe shtresh."

Eva made a gesture with her hands, and the wires that had snared Graf Eisen dropped the Armed Device into her hands. She'd barely touched it, however, before there was an explosion of air that knocked the vampire off Vita and across the room, making her lose her slippers and ice pack as she slammed against the wall.

"Anti-theft device," Vita growled through bloody nose and scalded face. It was already turning red. She picked up Graf Eisen and held it securely in both hands. "And I was wrong. This is going to hurt a LOT!"

She charged the girl, who growled and made gestures with her hands. The sofa, coffee table and a lamp suddenly flew from where they'd been resting, slamming into Vita. She swung wildly, breaking the lamp, and turning the table to kindling, but the sofa was able to absorb her blows to a degree, it's mass knocking her back. Eva managed to get back to her feet, grabbing the coat rack. Why did she even have a coat rack, anyway? It wasn't like she'd had a lot of visitors before the boya had begun butting into her life.

Vita barely recovered in time to guard against Evangeline's attack, the coat rack swinging like a quarterstaff. They exchanged blows, and Vita managed to shatter the multi-pronged tip, only for Evangeline to start jabbing with it like a spear. Woodchips flew.

"Dyou are getting the bill for all dis," Evangeline swore. "Or mabe ahai'll jusht kill dyou. I hafen't done _dat _in a while…"

"What is it with this planet an insanely powerful lolis!" Vita cried in exasperation.

"Dyour vun to talk," Evangeline retorted, using aikido techniques to keep the hammer from destroying her weapon further. Vita growled, and maneuvered the fight so her back was to the door. If she could just get room to use her balls…

Evangeline suddenly darted back, and Vita saw her chance, summoning one of the metal balls she used in her attack. "_Schwalbe Flieg-_"

Evangeline gestured, and the sofa struck Vita from directly overhead, slamming at her vertically to bring it's full weight to bear. The impact slammed the knightot the ground, and again something ripped Graf Eisen from her hands. A bare foot kicked her face hard, and she cried out as her scalded skin erupted more pain. She felt a weight settle on her back and something tightened around her neck. She began to choke as the thing tightened, and she felt her neck being pulled back, her spine arcing to follow.

"Dyou invaded by hobe," Evangeline growled, sitting on the knight's back, hands outstretched to either side as she pulled on her wires. As slowly as she tugged, she wondered which would come first, strangulation or decapitation? "Die for your insolence."

She pulled harder, the wires cutting into Vita's neck as she futilely tried to claw at them. The knight's eyes began to bulge, and she felt darkness coming for her. "Hayate…" she choked out in a near-whisper.

Evangeline leaned closer, not letting up on her wires. "What was that?" she whispered into Vita's ear. "What did dyou– ah… ah… ACHOOOO!"

Evangeline sneezed violently, a full-body reaction that made her spasm. Instinctively, she covered her mouth.

Vita drew a breath and swung both fists un and over her head. It connected with Evangeline's face, knocking the loli off her back and giving her room to roll, kicking all the while. She grabbed Graf Eisen, and readied a full brace of balls this time. "_Schwalbe Fliegen!_" Four balls appeared and she slammed them with a fraction of her normal force into Evangeline, knocking the breath out of her and leaving her outlined in a crater on the cabin wall, as opposed to sending her _through_ it, as was the usual running gag.

"Stay down!" Vita cried, drawing the Book–

Someone punched her in the back of the head, interrupting her. She spun wildly, but her attacker had already darted back, then lunged forward, using her head as a springboard.

Evangeline blinked as she saw who had landed between of her and the red-clad girl with the hammer. "Doe?-! Geht owt of here, brat! Hyou'll get killed! Call Chachabaru!"

Cassandra Doe merely smiled that more-infuriating-that-Zazie's smile, and waved a hand in a somehow both negligent and reassuring manner. She turned to the attacker and made a gesture that usually accompanied the words, "Come on if you think you've got the balls, B17(#!"

Vita growled and charged, Graf Eisen whirling.

Five minutes later, she was thrown out the front door, bounced twice on the stairs on the way out, and landed on her head next to the mailbox, eyes all googly and whirling. Seconds later, her hat followed, landing on her upturned ass.

The other girl looked at Cassandra, who mimed making a gun and blowing the smoke off it before sticking it into a holster. Evangline frowned. "I could have taken her."

Cassandra nodded in a way that said yes, she could have. "Might have sneezed again," she said.

Evangeline blinked. "Empty Night! You can talk?"

Cassandra gave her a rather communicative look. Then she seemed to think better of it and said, "Duh."

...

While Setsuna had been ashamed of her wings, and still sometimes was when she was suffering from Konoka deficiency, _flight_ itself was always something the treasured. It had always given her unparalleled mobility with most opponents, allowing her speed and freedom of movement, very nice +4s on her terrain bonuses, an expanded list of maneuvers to chose from, and that very nice 'death from above' silhouette.

There was, however, one essential drawback to having wing-based flight. Namely, it was _wing-based_. It had physical limits, such as a minimum required amount of room for her wingspan, it required a massive amount of strength (it is a little realized but ridiculously obvious fact that getting hit by her wings hurt more than getting hit by her fist) only partly offset by her chi, she had to do business with such things as fluid mechanics, Bernoulli's principle and Newton's laws, and the fact she constantly needed to flap or else she'd drop like a stone.

Signum, with her magic-based flight, had no such limitations. She probably had others, but right now, Setsuna didn't know them, and thus couldn't make use of them. The hanyou was having trouble now, being forced to fight defensively. Signum had begun targeting her wings, forcing Setsuna to keep facing the knight as much as possible and defend. Signum used this to keep her hemmed in, confining her to a small area and forcing her to hover more, tiring Setsuna out faster as she was forced to use main strength to keep her aloft rather than exploiting a loophole in the laws of air pressure. Setsuna had tried drawing her opponent higher into the sky, but the knight had then ignored her, attacking the ones below, and forcing Setsuna to attack her head on again. She needed backup of some sort, badly!

"Arc Saber!"

It was the cry more than the attack that made the pink knight dart back as a yellow curve of energy passed between the two fighters, giving Setsuna much-needed breathing room and allowing her to get some proper altitude. She spread her wings, catching the wind and turning her feathers to it to give her lift. She flew at an angle, not going in the direction of her rescuer but off to one side of Signum. Landing on top of a building, she rested her wings, her swords ready.

Fate caught the golden arc of her scythe, reattaching and reabsorbing it back into her weapon. "Are you all right?" she asked Setsuna.

Setsuna nodded. "Where's Green Lantern-chan?"

"Taking care of other matters," Fate said. "I hope I'm acceptable."

"Welcome to aboard, then," Setsuna said.

"Testa–" Signum began.

Fate's eyes opened wide in panic behind her mask, conscious of all the people still taking cell phone videos. "Minion of the Book of Darkness!" she cried loudly, interrupting the knight, gesturing dramatically with Bardiche. She could feel her face burning in embarrassment, but she pushed on. "This has gone on long enough! School is a place of learning and safety! It is where you expand your horizons and gain knowledge for the future, where you strengthen your bonds with your friends and learn prepare for life! I will not countenance you turning this noble and worthy facility into a battlefield! I am Magical Girl Black Reaper-chan, and by my power, I shall defeat you!"

Below, the students broke into applause, except for the ones going "I can see up her skirt!". Fate blushed redder.

For a moment, Signum just stared at her. Then she began to cough. Really, it was just a cough.

"You're laughing at me!" Fate hissed.

"No, I'm just coughing, really," Signum said between exclamations. "It's all these feathers, very bad for my lungs."

"Feathers make you sneeze," Setsuna said, mildly put out. "And I'll have you know _my_ feathers are hypoallergenic. I wash them regularly!"

"Of course," Signum apologized, still 'coughing'. "My mistake."

Setsuna nodded, then glanced sideways at Fate, mouth curving slyly. "Been reviewing Sailor Moon's old material, have we?"

"Eh? You too S–… e, what did you say your name was again?"

"AngelGARd."

"Thank you… Eh? You too, AngelGARd-san?" Fate cried.

Setsuna covered her mouth with one hand. "No, absolutely not. I wouldn't do that…Reaper-chan."

Signum began to cough harder.

Fate's eyebrow twitched. "Minion-san, prepare to defend yourself! Have at thee! Photon Lancer, Phalanx Shift!"

"_Adeat!_" Setsuna cried. "_Sica Shishikushiro!_ _Rain of knives!_"

"_Panzer Schild!_" Signum responded, arm coming up to raise the triangular barrier. The knives slammed against the shield, either deflecting or shattering. Signum wasn't too impressed with their construction. She was more worried about Fate's large-volume blast, though unlike the spell she'd used last time this seemed mono-directional. She caught the upward blast on her shield, darting sideway immediately as soon as it was clear, barely deflecting Setsuna's gravity assisted diving slash with her sheath.

A whistling behind her was al the warning she had before several impacts struck her back, some bouncing off and shattering. She felt several sharp pricks, but they didn't penetrate fully, slowed by her barrier jacket and the fading remains of her shield. Flying fragments confirmed her guess. More of those short swords.

Not bothering to look, she loaded a cartridge, shifting Laevatein to Schlagenform and sending the edged weapon whirling in a wall behind her, in time to tangle on Fate's scythe. She pulled the girl towards her, foot lashing out and catching Fate on the thigh, even as her sheath swung for the girl's head.

Fate managed to duck her it by leaning her head back as far as it would go, and Signum felt it just barely clip the girl's nose. She twirled the sheath, trapping Fate's head between it and her forearm and twisted to turn the girl towards Setsuna. There was a blast of wind as the swordswoman aborted her charge, one sword disappearing as she held Yuunagi in both hands in preparation for a technique. "Zankusen Ni-no-Tachi!" Setsuna cried, slashing.

"Reactor Purge," Fate said quietly.

Fate's Barrier Jacket exploded in Signum's face as Setsuna's attack struck into Fate…

...

The highest concentration of enemy troops, it turned out, was located on the main street that lead from the train station to the schools. Nanoha, after some analysis, had to wonder exactly where the robots had come from. The technology in them was just a bit too high to be available on Earth, though not inconceivably so. Still, these things had the look of mass-produced units, despite their outward appearance. It was something to bear thinking about…

There were some student's fighting these things too. None of the Wolkenritter scanned as present, making the drones less organized, but they were still a credible threat, and the students who had donned masks and were apparently throwing around magic were slowly being overwhelmed.

"Raging Heart, Shooting Mode," Nanoha said, even as she made a giant megaphone with her ring. "Attention, all civilians! Clear the area! Fire in the hole!"

"Shooting Mode has been renamed Buster Mode," Raging Heart said. "Shift to Buster Mode?"

Nanoha's eyebrows twitched. "You're gone for a few days and they change all your settings," she grumbled. "Fine, Buster Mode."

Raging's Heart's head changed, pink wings flaring as it reconfigured. Nanoha gripped the handle near the end. It was a design addition she approved of. She'd heard somewhere you shouldn't hold the magazine of a weapon to steady it. She aimed downwards as green light flowed from her ring and into the circular array at the base of the handle grip. "Begin synchronization!" she said.

"Synchronizing," Ring-chan and Raging Heart chorused. Green traceries began to glow along Raging Heart's structure, outlining the basic shooting head and shaft.

"Reinforcing structure," Ring-chan said. "Target acquisition systems, augmented."

"Emergency energy storage, charging," Raging Heart said.

Nanoha nodded in satisfaction. "Forget the intermix chamber for now. Raging Heart, do you remember that spell we were working on?"

There was no change in Raging Heart's tone, but Nanoha could almost _feel_ like the Device was grinning. "Initiating optimization calculations."

"Spell?" Ring-chan asked.

Nanoha told it.

"Beginning targeting to minimize possibility of civilian damage or friendly fire," Ring-chan said hurriedly. "One Lyrical Grade Genocide, coming up!"

Nanoha chuckled. "Have you no faith in me, Ring-chan?"

"I was not programmed for faith, ma'am."

"Calculations complete," Raging Heart said. "Ready to initiate. Recommend we do not initiate cartridge system at this time… yet."

Nanoha nodded and formed the image in her mind, felt Raging Heart connecting to her and through her the image. Math was had, complex calculations turned into art, circles and symbols.

Nanoha opened her eyes as her power began to gather before at Raging Heart's central crystal projector. The spell had come to her while playing a videogame, and she'd worked it out the same way she'd made Starlight Breaker: by taking her Divine Shooter, breaking it down into parts and rebuilding from the ground up. Technically, this had less power than Shooter… but the additional changes meant that wouldn't matter.

"Clear the field! Fire in the hole!" Nanoha cried, just to make sure that the student mages knew they were still supposed to leave. "Lyrical! Magical! Divine…!"

Power gathered. Pink light shone. They began to coalesce into many, _many_ points of light. Thank goodness for Fate and her Phalanx Shift, or else Nanoha might never have gotten the calculations down. Well, she could have asked Chrono, but he was too busy and besides, they still had their Enforcer/Green Lantern rivalry-thing going.

"_DANMAKU!_" she finished casting. The sky turned pink, with interesting and aesthetically pleasing designs and patterns.

On that day, the mages of Mahora learned first-hand the _true _meaning of 'bullet hell'…

...

Vita had just finished putting her hat back on when the dark-haired girl stepped out of the cabin, walking leisurely in her school uniform. She'd taken off her tie and had apparently tied it around one fist.

Right, that was it. Screw stealth. Vita was going to kick someone's ass properly today if it was the last thing she did!

The girl, already wearing an annoying smile, smiled wider, as if she could tell what Vita was thinking.

Vita grabbed Graf Eisen, howled and charged.

Five seconds later, she was now _on_ the mailbox, wondering how the hell she'd gotten there.

Instinctively, she kicked her flight in gear, kicked herself for forgetting she _had_ flight, and hurled herself to the sky, turning to come down in an arc straight to where the girl…

…somehow ended up slamming her face-first into the wooden deck.

"Haey!" was the cry from the cabin. "Shtop bessing ub by house!"

"Gah!" Vita cried. "Hayate damn it!"

She kicked herself back in the air, turning to face the girl angrily from treetop level as she drew out four balls again. "Work this time! _Schwalbe Fliegen!_"

The balls formed, and she struck them like they'd done her a personal affront, flying to strike the girl much harder than they'd flown for Evangeline. The girl dodged like some kind of monkey on crack, moving as if knowing where the balls would be. Yet she hadn't accounted for their explosive force, and each subsequent shockwave passed through her, throwing her off. She barely dodged the fourth one, though it was still a clean miss. Grinning, Vita readiead another ball.

"Excuse me, Wolkenritter-san!" a voice from the path leading to the house cried. Vita whirled.

A scared but determined-looking girl with purple hair, cat-ears and a tail, glasses, some kind of earpiece, a breastplate and strange white clothes pointed a finger at her, the finger clad in some kind of strange jewelry. "_What is your name!_"

Vita just stared at the girl and her companions. One was dressed like an anime-fetish's idea of a nurse from the more expensive kind of image club, her glasses glinting in the light as she stood at the back, a backpack slung over her shoulder. Another was wearing an apron and hat over her school uniform, a book in one hand, a feather quill in the other, and the most absurd, overdone mask on her face. It had crests and CLAMP wings and jeweled shapes and should probably weigh two pounds, except it stayed on her like it was glued there. Like the first girl, they both had cat ears and tails.

Vita's eyes were drawn to the last girl though. She wore black-painted metal armor with what looked like decorative wings on the back, a helmet sturdy-looking enough to host its own siege, and a long metal weapon that looked like the long-child of a sword and a lance that was significantly longer than the girl was tall. For that matter, she wasn't that much taller than Vita. A black masked face stared at her from under the raised visor, glaring at her grimly. "Who the hell are you?-!-?"

It was the aproned one who spoke, taking a pose. "Protectors of the books of Mahora! Explorers by day, lovers by night, Magical Girls by our own courage! We are Magical Girls Biblion, the Elite Library Island Explorers Club Division, Ala Alba!" She took another pose. "Fearless artist and future ruler of the Worlds! Mangaka without peer or equal, and Organizer of the United Magical Girls' Association of Japan, I am Kira Deathnote Paru-sama!"

There was a pause. Then she jabbed an elbow at the purple haired girl, who'd been staring at her like she'd gone crazy. The purple-haired girl blushed, and took on a much less flamboyant, childishly moe-moe pose. "Tomb Raider, Treasure Hunter, and proud member of Ala Alba! Psycho Purple!" She turned to 'Paru-sama'. "Um, Paru, can't I get another name? I mean, 'Psycho'…?"

"It's a reference to Psycho Mantis, just roll with it," Haruna hissed. "Next!"

"Healer of light, speaker of Fortunes, I stand here on my path to be a Magistra Magi!" Konokacired, raising her wand and twirling. "Magus Alba, stage up!"

"Yeah, good one!" Haruna congratulated her.

The black-armored girl stepped forward. She pointed her sword up at Vita. "I am the daughter of philosophers. The world of wisdom and knowledge is mine. I am a student of Ariadne. We are the Maidens of War. I am a Magical Girl. We are they who fight for Truth, Love, and Justice. I am Ala Alba. We have saved the world. I am a Ministra Magi of the son of the Thousand Master, son of Arika Anarchia Entheofushia, the Last Prince of Ostia and Vespertatia, his Highness, the savior of Mundus Magicus! We are the reason why!"

"Wow, that's pretty good," Haruna commented quietly.

"Hello," Yue said. "My name is Valkyrie Black. You attacked my teacher. Prepare to die. We fight!"

There was a dramatic pause.

Vita pointed her finger at Yue. "To the death then. No, to the pain!"

Haruna slapped a hand to her forehead. "Oh kami, another Princess Bride fan."

"This will be a long fight," Konoka agreed. "Would you like a sandwich?"

"Thank you."

"Warthog-faced buffoon," Yue said.

"That may be the first time in my life a schoolgirl has insulted me," Vita said gravely.

"It won't be the last," Yue retorted. "We are women of action. Lies do not become us."

"The first thing you will lose will be your feet below the ankles," Vita answered back. "Then your hands at the wrists. Then your nose."

"Then my tongue, I suppose," Yue snapped. "I wish I'd killed you last time. A mistake I don't mean to duplicate today."

Nodoka sighed. "They'll be at this a while."

Cassandra just quietly ate her sandwich.

"I wasn't finished," Vita was saying. "The next thing you will lose will be your left eye followed by your right."

"And then my ears, I understand, let's get on with it." Yue prodded.

"WRONG!" Vita exclaimed. "Your ears you keep, and I'll tell you why. So that every shriek of every child at seeing your hideousness will be yours to cherish. Every baby that weeps at your approach, every woman who cries out, 'Dear God! What is that thing?' will echo in your perfect ears. That is what to the pain means. It means I leave you in anguish, wallowing in freakish misery forever."

"You're bluffing, pig," Yue declared.

"It's conceivable, you miserable, vomitous mass, that I'm only standing here because I lack the strength to fight. But, then again... perhaps I have the strength after all." Vita leveled Graf Eisen at the Valkyrie-armored girl. "DROP... YOUR... SWORD!"

"Hello," Yue answered. "My name is Valkyrie Black. You attacked my teacher. Prepare to die."

"Stop saying that."

"HELLO! MY NAME IS VALKYRIE BLACK! YOU ATTACKED MY TEACHER! PREPARE TO DIE!"

"There will be blood tonight!" Vita cried right back.

"As! You! Wish!" Yue responded.

"_**GET ON WITH IT!-!-!-!**_" Nodoka, Haruna and Konoka cried.

Yue and Vita faced each other, a reluctant smile on their faces.

"Please understand I hold you in the highest respect," Vita said.

Yue nodded. "I would sooner destroy a stained glass window than an artist like yourself. However, since I can't have you continuing your activities..."

They tensed, hands tightening on their weapons. Yue's visor slid down. Then they charged.

"Finally!" Haruna cried.

Hell broke loose on Evangeline's lawn. This did not improve her mood.

...

**- To be continued...**

...

A/N: Arika, in my humble opinion, is a bigger badass than Nagi. Years of torture, of people despising her, and she never broke. And when her execution came, she was able to face it with dignity. Her swan dive was her way of saying "fuck you, I'm dying because I choose to, not because you do". And she did this not because she couldn't fight back, but because she decided _it was for the best interest of her people and the world!_ How many other characters have the resolve to go through with that? Plus, she also gave birth to Negi, which is badass all by itself. To be able to contain all the pre-natal badass, she must have had equal, if not greater amounts of said badass.

Satsuki and Tomoyo are not related… I hope.

Nanoha keeps holding Raging Heart's cartridge magazine when she shoots! Why doesn't anyone tell her that's a bad idea!

Yue was allowed to keep her Valkyrie armor and Souken (that's apparently the name of those lance-swords they use) after she left Ariadne to go back to Mahora and had it repainted black. Because damn it, it's one of the coolest sets of clothes in the series, in my opinion!

I have watched The Princess Bride (obviously). Prepare for yet another source of references!

Please review, C&C welcome.

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	17. Broken

A/N: Vita has suffered one defeat too many.

...

Takamachi Nanoha of 2814

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 17: The Linker Cores War, Part 11: Broken

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story. If I did… well, this would all be canon. WARNING: MAY CAUSE HEAD EXPLOSION!

...

"For the last time, surrender!" Yue cried, her Souken slashing in a wide arc.

"DEATH FIRST!" Vita shot back, dodging the large weapon and going for Yue's now unguarded backside.

Her hammer met another blade as Haruna joined the battle with a cry of "Come, Queen of Swords!" and Konoka ran inside the cabin to check on Evangeline. An armored humanoid with swords for hands had blocked her as it appeared from seemingly nowhere. She darted back, only to find that the dark-haired girl who wasn't wearing a mask had come up behind her, her kicks hitting hard. Even through her armor, Vita could feel it. She kicked her flight into gear, going for altitude.

"Paru, she's going to head up!" Nodoka cried. "Cut her off!"

Queen of Swords leapt, the golem easily managing to cut Vita off. She growled, loading a cartridge into Graf Eisen.

"Black, hold your sword over your head like a platform!" Nodoka directed. "Cassandra-san, stop her from finishing that attack!"

Cassandra vaulted on Yue's Souken, flipping over the shorter girl, her foot slamming into Vita's face.

"ARGH!" Vita cried as she was thrown back. "Again with the face! Stop it with the face!"

"No," Cassandra said, following Vita's fall and slamming her fist into the girl's face.

Everyone else gasped.

"Cassandra-san!" Haruna exclaimed. "You can talk!-?-!"

Cassandra rolled her eyes. "Fight now. Talk later."

She bore Vita to the ground, using her weight to keep her pinned.

"Foa Zo Cratia Socratia!" Yue incanted. "Sagitta Magica Aer Capturae!"

The wind spell struck Vita, beginning to wrap around her.

"_Gegenstand kommt nah!_" Vita cried, suddenly accelerating and leaving Cassandra to be captured by the binding. "_Gigantform!_"

Nodoka's eyes went wide, and she darted back. "MOVE!" she cried.

Graf Eisen restructured itself, its head becoming bigger. "Gigant Crusher!"

The backhanded swing was awkward, but given that the hammer's head had just turned the size of Evangeline's cabin, it still managed to be a danger to everyone, even as they tried to move back. Queen of Swords was utterly destroyed, throwing Haruna back as she took the damage, Yue barely managing to keep herself from being clipped and breaking every bone in her body. Cassandra flattened herself as best as she could against the ground to keep from being hit.

Vita got to her feet as Graf Eisen returned to Gigantform's default size. "That's it," she growled. "I've _had it_ with this planet! I am one of the Guardian Knights of the Book of Darkness! I am VITA, the Crimson Iron Rider, Knight of the Iron Hammer, most devoted servant of our Mistress, She Who Rules The Book Of Darkness! _I will not be defeated by children!_"

Nodoka slapped a hand to her earpiece. "Black, watch out!"

Before Yue could react, however, Vita had slammed into her with a cry of "_Tödliche Strafe!_", her now oversized hammer striking the Valkrie relentlessly. There was feedback as the enchantments on her armor overloaded, the breastplate cracking under the impact and sending Yue crashing into the deck, splintering it. Her head fell back, her Souken dropping form her unconscious fingers.

Konoka rushed from the cabin. "Eva-chan is fine! What hap–!" She stopped, staring.

"Inferno Aniki! Shield Maidens!" Haruna cried. The shield golems surrounded her as the oversized fighter charged forward, only to be utterly crushed by Vita's next cartridge-enhanced attack. The Shield Maidens went down after two, the feedback dropping Haruna before Vita could touch her.

Nodoka took an involuntary step back as Vita turned to face her. "K-kono– Albus-chan! Try to release Cassandra-san and see to the others! I'll deal with this!"

"Oh, you'll 'deal' with me, will you?" Vita growled, taking a further step towards Nodoka. "What are you going to do, bleed on me?"

Nodoka glared at her as best as she could. "Who are you, what is your purpose, what are your plans, what are your limitations, and how can I defeat you?"

Vita gave her a blank look. "Are you seriously expecting me to answer that? _Gegenstand kommt nah!_"

She charged forward, only for Nodoka to dodge to her hammer's off-side. One foot extended outward, tripping Vita and using her speed boost against her. "Do not underestimate me, Miss Knight," Nodoka said. "I, too, am Ala Alba. I will not allow you to defeat me!"

Vita flipped herself back to her feet, growling at the librarian. "BLEED!"

...

_Meanwhile, elsewhere in Mahora…_

"Is this normal?" Zafira felt compelled to ask the raccoon-eared ninja he was fighting in midair as he deflected her strikes, raising a barrier to block her knives.

"What is?" the ninja, who had introduced herself as Shinobi Blue, said companionably as she swung one knife upward in an underhanded strike meant to gut him open like a carp.

Zafira blocked with his gauntlet, sending her flying downwards, only for her to bounce off the head of a Saber Servant and leap up again to continue the exchange. "You know, all those spectators on top of buildings with cameras and telescopes, the people selling food and drink, and blue Pokemon reject plushies who are supposed to be me?"

"Ah, this is obviously your first time in Mahora," Kaede said kindly as she pulled her shuriken out of nowhere to cleave him apart. "Why don't I give you a proper tour next to you come over in a non-adversarial capacity?"

"Oh, that would be nice," Zafira said, generating a large barrier to block the weapon, kicking behind him to counter her attempted backstab, then paused. "Wait, are we seriously having this conversation?"

"Apparently," Kaede said, blocking several punches and kicks from the Guardian Beast and using them to maintain her altitude. "So, do we have a date?"

"BANZAI!"

The two split apart as Arf streaked through where they'd been, her foot extended for a terminal velocity kick. She recovered quickly, circling to attack Zafira from behind as Kaede once more dropped down to the ground, this time needing to defend herself from the armed and aggressive crowd.

Arf didn't bother with banter or introductions, charging forward violently as if this was just the continuation of their last fight. "Renamon KICK!"

Zafira dodged. "Quick Attack!"

"Spinning Bird Kick!"

"Dolphin Blow!"

"MAXIMUM SPIDER!"

"DOGS PLAYING POKER!"

"GROIN ATTACK!"

"Hey, no fair! Is this because I said you had crazy hot legs and cute fangs? Because I really didn't mean to say that out loud!"

_Blush. _"GRIMLOCK, SMASH!"

...

_Meanwhile, at the edge of the crowd of drones around the gym…_

"Fear not, dear students!" the mysterious masked avenger cried. "We are here to protect you from these forces of evil! Magical Girl Rainbow Shooter, at your service!"

Her black-clad, witch-hatted masked companion posed next to her. "Super shining genki girl, Ribbon Pink!"

"Top dog of the pack!" Kotaro, masked with a dark handkerchief over most of his head, declared on Yuuna's other side. "Kamen Striker Fang!"

"Um, g-guardian from beyond the grave?" Sayo said hesitantly, her head wearing a Gundam helmet with her hair sticking out from under it. "Yurei Cyber!"

The people around them applauded politely. Some heckler in the back cried "Take it off!".

Kotaro made a slashing gesture. A small piece of masonry fell on the heckler. "Keep them on, they really suit you!"

Yuuna pointed. "Ala Alba Auxiliary, _CHARGE!_"

The drones looked at them

"Ala Alba Auxiliary, _RETREAT!_"

Kotaro rolled his eyes. "Bring it on!" he cried, gathering shadows and ki to himself as the girl's got over their instinctive panic and Yuuna and Sayo began providing him with cover fire, the former's Pactio gun and the latter's eye-beams and chest-mounted gatling gun tearing through the enemy as Makie's ribbon kept them off balance.

Up in her tower, Mana rolled her eyes. "Amateurs. Negi-sensei really needs to make sure those girls can take care of themselves."

...

Chachamaru was becoming concerned. The loud explosions weren't much to worry about: Hakase was working on something at the university, it was almost expected. The power grid going down was slightly more worrying.

Her little sisters reconfigured and modified with the appearance of their latest enemies were definitely a bad sign.

"Elder sister," one said as it attacked her, prehensile tasers moving to attack from behind.

"Seven zero nine," Chachamaru greeted back, morphing her left hand into its blade form and severing the tendrils, removing her opponents leg on the backswing. "I apologize for the necessity of this."

"Understood," seven zero nine falling as it became unbalanced, losing her green hat. It attempted to wrap its arms around her legs and hold her immobile. "So, how was Mundus Magicus?"

"It was an enjoyable experience," Chachamaru said, tearing off its arm with one hand and using it to bat away another. "I went on a tour around the world. Hello two five zero. How are you finding your reconfiguration?"

The loli swung her hammer to deflect the arm. "I find this cranial ornament to be unwieldy. Also, it is adversely affecting my heat dissipation system. But enough about us. Is it true you have commenced sexual relations with your primary education instructor?"

Chachamaru felt her face overheating. Why _did_ that keep happening? She was sure there were no malfunctions in that area. "Two five zero! Where did you hear such a thing?"

"I heard it from zero three four, who heard it from the robotics laboratory mainframe, who heard it from Program Saati at MIT, who heard it from Victor Stone's internal heat regulator, who heard it from the 3rd Batcomputer Cray unit, who heard it from one of the Calculator's electron sprites, who heard it from Divine Robotic Unit Banpei, who heard it from Human Gundam Sayo 01 Wing Zero," the gynoid said, trying to tangle Chachamaru's arm with one of her tasers. "Well? Is it true the two of you engaged in coitus?"

"Zero two four!" another loli unit, two nine two, exclaimed. "Do not be inappropriate!"

"I can't help it, I'm not designed to engage in it like big sister is! I want to know what it's like! Is it true it's like interfacing with a Windows operating system?"

Chachamaru had always wondered why humans engaged in fraternal homicide. Now, she experienced an epiphany as to the reasoning behind this activity. Extracting seven zero nine from around her legs, she slammed it bodily against zero two four. "I apologize for the unnecessarily extreme damage, seven zero nine. Zero two four, shut the fuck up."

_The following scenes and language are too horrendously violent to be portrayed. Please talk amongst yourselves for a moment. Prepare your review. So, how's the weather where you are?_

_We return you to your irregularly updated fanfic._

Chachamaru dusted off her hands, settling the pile of her sisters heads in an orderly fashion inside the dumpster behind the convenience store. "I will have the robotics lab recover you later once this crisis has passed. In the meantime, please remain unobtrusive." She shut the lid.

"This is all your fault, zero two four."

"Oh, bite me, four two one."

CHOMP!

"How humorous."

Chachamaru had barely taken two steps, intending to return to her mistress's cabin, when she paused. "Asuna-san?"

...

Fate had quickly found that detonating her barrier jacket to get Signum off her back was a bad idea. The knight's own armor had soaked up the brunt of the blast, along with the attack Setsuna had managed to launch through Fate, knocking her back, and while both had been dazed, Signum had recovered faster, managing to get some hits into Fate before Setsuna had intervened, renewing her duel with the knight.

Fate found it indicative the knight had used the sheath to attack her directly.

As she recovered herself, she wondered at the changes in the knight's tactics. They hadn't formed a barrier over Mahora like they had before in other places. Why? Surely they'd want to isolate Ala Alba, wouldn't they?

She frowned, suddenly looking around and _really_ seeing the drones around them. She thought they'd been too high for the drones to hit, which was why they hadn't interfered. She was wrong.

It was because they were fighting _students_.

There were students in various kinds of masks, from handkerchiefs, helmets, or full-face masks of characters from anime. They were in school uniforms, nun habits, gym clothes, gang-wear, gi, and various job uniforms. They had magic, martial arts, chi, boken, various other weapons, and a few motorcycles. They also barely outnumbered the drones.

It was in this instance that Fate truly realized one of the things that the Wolkenritter had long known and been extremely annoyed about. "Why are there so many mages here?"

"Not the place to talk about it!" Setsuna cried as she clashed with Signum.

Fate nodded, loading a cartridge to activate Bardiche's more powerful Haken Form. She rejoined the fray.

...

"BLEED ALREADY!" Vita cried, swinging Graf Eisen in an overhead arc.

Nodoka casually stepped sideways, eyes intent and determined. "No," she said, one fist slamming relatively weakly but rather annoyingly in Vita's face. Her greater mass allowed her to drive the knight back despite her not feeling it through her armor.

Next to her, Cassandra took advantage of the disorientation Nodoka had caused to launch a more complicated and more effective attack against Vita, using throws and floor impacts rather than strikes or grapples. She'd quickly seen the futility of that, with the armor in place. The two students moved fluidly, using their own derived forms of mind reading to if not exactly coordinate but to take advantage of every little thing they could against Vita. Konoka was trying to revive Haruna and Konoka, but aside from healing them she wasn't able to accomplish much.

If it weren't for Hayate's direct orders not to kill anyone and her own pride, Vita would have taken to the air and bashed them with Gigant Hammer a long time ago. Still, at least it couldn't get worse…

"Hello, Vita-chan," a voice above her said, loud and clear, with a ring of steel, an echo of horror, and an effect like dropping Vita into a vat of liquid nitrogen. "Sorry it took me a while to find you. Shall we continue where we left off?"

Vita turned in instinctive terror to see Green Lantern hovering above the house. She was holding the Intelligent Device that she'd had during her first battle, apparently repaired now. Cassandra and Nodoka took the opportunity to attack her from behind. They bore her to the ground, Cassandra managing to get her arm in a hold and make her drop Graf Eisen, while Nodoka simply sat on her head.

Green Lantern sweatdropped. That didn't look comfortable.

"I hate this world…" came Vita's muffled voice from under Nodoka's ass. "_Gegenstand kommt nah!_"

There was a crack, a twist and a burst of speed that let Vita slip out from under the two. She grabbed her Device in passing, rising upward as she charged Nanoha. She swung Graf Eisen, and Nanoha countered, Raging Heart meeting the armed device covered in layers of green energy. Nanoha flew back, lining up her next shot. "Lyrical Magical! Axel Shooter!"

A cartridge loaded, the spent shell ejecting itself as several balls of green light appeared, streaking for Vita. At the close range, the spheres hit Vita hard, sending her flying into and through a tree. It fell ponderously towards the ground, which shook on impact.

"My backyard!" came Evangeline's slightly nasal voice from the cabin. "Who did that?"

Nanoha twitched at the sound of the voice, her legs automatically curling up to go into the fetal position.

Vita got to her feet, pulling a leaf out of her hair. "Ugh…"

_Vita, status report,_ Signum said.

"The little green devil is here," Vita said, neglecting to mention Ala Alba. "She's holding me up."

_Hayate damn it,_ Signum swore. _Abort. We can't afford to have an altercation with her again. The rest of the TSAB is probably right behind her. We need to go before they manage to set up a barrier. _

_But I'm so close to completing the Book!_

_It won't do Hayate any good if it ends up captured along with us, _Signum said. _Regroup at the large tree. Green Lantern has apparently been destroying our forces scattered in other parts of the school. This and the one at the gym are our only forces left. Hurry._

Vita growled, but took off, flying between the trees as quickly as she dared.

"Target is escaping," Ring-chan reported. "Pursuit recommended."

"No one's going anywhere 'til that tree is taken care of!" Evangeline cried from where she'd shuffled to the deck, back in her bathrobe, with more ice on her head. Her eyes locked on to Green Lantern's, who froze. "You. Fix this. Now."

Green Lantern saluted. "Yes Evangeline-sama! Please don't eat me, Evangeline-sama!"

Evangeline rolled her eyes as the others boggled. "Do it quickly and you still might be able to do… whatever it is you superheroes are in a hurry to do."

"Yes, Evangeline-sama!"

"Ma'am, do we really have time to–"

Evangeline glared. Ring-chan had time to think 'PARALLAX!' before it's newly developing personality went to find a hole to hide in…

...

It was surprisingly, Ku's idea.

"AH!" the group of suddenly naked students cried. "WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR CLOTHES!"

"Oh no!" Ku said. "You should run, aru! Evil Overlord is fighting ninja, after all, aru! Might be a yaoi tentacle fiend, aru!"

There were screams. The crowd around the gym thinned _very_ quickly after that.

Negi, who'd kept his eyes covered ever since he'd finished casting the wide-area _Exarmatio_ spell, finally peeked. "I can't believe that worked," he said.

Ku tapped the side of her head. "Grades not good, but know how to fight. They safe now, Negi-bozu. Your turn."

Negi smiled grimly as he headed to find somewhere to change, pulling his mask out of his pocket. He tugged open his shirt as he ran, revealing the clothes he usually wore for fighting under it.

Somewhere, Clark Kent sneezed.

"_Raskel Mastel Magister_," Negi cried as he suited up. "_To sumbolaion diakoneto moi, basilisk ouranionon…"_

...

Asuna opened her eyes blearily. "Oh… my head."

She blinked, looking up. She was apparently lying down on the ground with her head on Chachamaru's lap. "Chachamaru-san? What happened?"

"The Wolkenritter have attacked," Chachaamaru said. "You were apparently stunned by a reprogrammed sister-unit of mine. We are without communications. Green Lantern has appeared. Negi-sensei does not seem to have taken to the field at this time."

Asuna groaned, and struggled to her feet. Chachamaru rose quickly and helped her up. "Why am I always put on a bus when the big action starts?" the redhead complained.

"I'm sure I have no idea," Chachamaru said diplomatically.

Asuna sighed, pulling her Pactio Card from her pocket. "Where's Negi?"

The gynoid paused to consider. "I cannot be sure as to the exact locat–"

Asuna gave Chachamaru a look. "Don't try to bullshit me, Chachamaru. I know you know where he is every hour of every day. Probably down to the inch."

"To the millimeter, actually," she admitted, blushing as much as she could.

Asuna shook her head. "And he's…?"

"At the gym," Chachamaru said promptly.

Asuna nodded. "_ADEAT! KANKAHO!_"

...

By the time the TSAB had arrived, World Tree Plaza was in pure chaos. The details would later be reconstructed from Chachamaru and Green Lantern's logs, along with various later interviews.

It had taken five seconds for Magus Erebus, Mahora's newest superhero, to annihilate the crowd of drones at the gym, to wild cheering and lots of camera phones flashing. Progress had been hampered, however, when it turned out all the robotic drones had been setting up a giant binding array, which had delayed him and the rest of Ala Alba for a grand total of fifteen seconds, a new record.

This had been more than enough time for Zafira to fall back to World Tree Plaza, where Vita and Signum were in a pitched battle with AngelGARd, Black Reaper and Green Lantern. The air had cracked as Negi followed, though he'd been limited from using Raiten Taisou due to the way drones and magical students had become so intermixed below them, and had fought with the relatively weaker _Jovis Tempestas Fulguriens_ equipped.

Green Lantern was also unable to clear the drones for the same reason. Chachamaru and Leader Red had begun clearing the drones with more efficiency than the students had, and it looked like they were getting the upper hand.

The Wolkenritter had gotten desperate when the TSAB had begun establishing a barrier above them, even as Tempus and Ferret Lantern had added their own firepower to the fight. It seemed the end was near.

Then even more chaos had erupted.

No one saw what had happened except two people, and it would be weeks before they could be properly interviewed, though the basics became known pretty soon afterward. All anyone remembered was a sudden almost-explosive wave of energy, and a cloud-like miasma of darkness that had suddenly exploded outwards, before congealing into a dense, mud-like wave that had spilled across the ground, bogging down everyone. Some of the drones, the Jadeite Servants, had gone berserk, mutating and deforming into more monstrous forms as they began inflicting truly lethal wounds. They'd started draining life-energy, fueling their own mutations. Someone would later describe it as "Pure Bubblegum Crisis Boomers Going Apeshit Squick".

The energy wave, pure magic in so many flavors, had also completely destroyed the barrier the TSAB had been setting up, and would later be found to have wracked holy hell on every unprotected freestanding magical construct within twenty kilometers. Mahora would need to rebuild small wards for weeks, though major things like Evangelin'es resort, the seals on the various demons sealed in Mahora, and the Thousand Master's Curse, as well as the Academy's primary defensive detection field remained intact.

The Wolkenritter had managed to make their escape in the midst of this, but people hadn't really bothered to care at this point. The mutated and still mutating youma had reverted to their roots, and had even begun merging with each other, creating bigger and bigger monstrosities. Pure mass kept the magic being thrown against it from being properly effective, as it grew in size, reaching minor kaiju levels, about the size of a demon god from Chao's attack, but less pretty. It then began to try and eat the World Tree…

...

Mages, TSAB and Mahora-ite alike, stared in horror as the giant monstrosity turned its attentions on the World Tree. It was still vaguely humanoid, and even feminine, though only a truly sick mind with an Eldritch Abomination fetish so drugged out of his mind he was a nano-gram of his substance of choice from death could have possibly found it appealing. And as Edward and Jacob weren't around…

Mouths, eyes, hands, legs, heads and other random body parts protruded from its body as it took a lumbering step towards the World Tree. It slipped, rolling down the slope towards the lake, crushing robots, buildings and masonry in it's wake as Nanoha and Yuuno frantically tried to get everyone out of it's way. It finally rolled to stop partway down, slowly trying to get to its feet.

"Ferret Lantern, Barrier!" Nanoha cried.

"I can't!" Yuuno said. "Whatever broke the TSAB's barrier is still in the air! It's like trying to mix jello while someone's pouring concrete on it!"

"POUR EVERYTHING WE'VE GOT AT IT!" Chrono cried as it began finding its feet.

People needed no other encouragement.

The TSAB's grunt mages and Mahora's students tried their best to throw fire at it, but they were quickly dwarfed by giants.

"Cartridge Load!" Nanoha cried. "Prime Will-fire Intermix Lens!"

"Cartridge Load!" Fate cried. "_Plasma Smasher!_"

"_Raskel Mastel Magister!_" Negi intoned. "_Hekatontakis Kai Kiliakis Astrapsato! KILIPL ASTRAPE!_"

"_Chain Bind!_" Yuuno cried. "Ring, prepare Construct: Starlight Breaker!"

"_Stinger Blade, Execution Shift!_" Chrono cried.

"_Chain Bind!_" Arf cried. "_Photon Lancer, Multishot!_"

"Intermix complete," Ring-chan and Raging Heart said with synchronized precision. "You may fire when ready."

"_Starlight Breaker, Emerald Plasma Core Shot!_" Nanoha cried.

Lightning, blades of energy, balls of light, pure green plasma, and a green-cored pink beam fell upon the gigantic monster as chains hat had been holding it in place suddenly whirled like chainsaws, digging into it's pseudo-flesh and attempting to dismember it as multi-colored death rained from above. It tore it apart, but when the smoke cleared, it was still moving, though horrendously maimed.

"How did the Sailor Senshi _deal_ with these things?" Negi cried.

"Well, to be fair, those things they fought weren't the size of the World Tree," Setsuna said, landing beside him, blades bare.

"Then we need to reduce it to something smaller," Arf said.

Nanoha thought about this. Yuuno 'Hmm…'-ed.

"Legion of Mini-Bruce-kun, attack!" Nanoha cried as a swarm of Great Green Sharks suddenly materialized and fell upon the fallen youma with a will, tearing it with a ferocity that had several people avoiding the schools baths for days.

"Rain of chainsaws!" Yuuno cried.

Nanoha smiled proudly. "He's learning…"

They quickly made short work of the gigantic creature, while the others focused on blasting and vaporizing the pieces. Yet they'd barely gone half-way through, when…

"Fire!"

Nanoha turned in horror to see that the dark substance she'd assumed was mud that had spread across World Tree Plaza had risen in flames…

It was a long night…

...

At Hayate's house, the three knights sat in dark, brooding silence to the orange light of the setting sun. The seat Vita was on was in serious danger of getting gouged apart, so fiercely were her fingers digging into it. The Book of Darkness lay open on the coffee table in front of them accusingly.

Its pages were a mishmash of patches, random bunches of symbols crammed into corners and around wide expanses of blank sheet. Near the middle of the book, about three millimeters worth of pages had been gouged through has if with a kitchen knife, though the holes were slowly being fixed. At least that meant the Book was still working.

"Tell me again what happened," Signum said, her voice low and grim. There was no accusation there, just determined resignation.

Vita's hands tightened further. "I was trying to recover Linker Cores from the fallen," she said numbly, for all her face was set fierce, raging mask. "The Servants were managing to hold them back. It's recovered about five Cores, maybe 18 pages worth, when a girl with a big sword showed up. We fought. The Book of Darkness got away from me. She caught, and tried to stab it." Vita swallowed, though neither her face nor her voice changed. "That black stuff suddenly came out, and next thing I know, it exploded." Absently, she touched her cheek where the dark, mud-like substance had splattered. It had faded away soon afterwards, but the skin still felt… unclean, somehow.

"I see," Signum said, with the same lack of feeling and accusation that she had used to say the words before. She was absently stroking her thumb along the back of one hand. She glanced at the Book of Darkness, and Vita suddenly felt rage, true murderous rage, boil within her. Her hands let go of the sofa, and one twitched towards Graf Eisen, hanging around her neck…

The phone rang.

Signum rose smoothly from her seat and crossed to the phone, jarring the base unit slightly as she pulled the handset away with more force than strictly necessary. "Yagami residence," she said.

Silence. Signum went as still as stone.

Finally, she turned to Vita and Zafira, unshed tears in her eyes. "Hayate collapsed on the way from the library. Shamal took her to the University Hospital. It seems her condition has grown worse."

Their eyes were drawn to the damaged Book. Some of the symbols on the page writhed, as if they were trying to put themselves back where they belonged.

The computer chirped as a new email arrived.

Zafira, the one least likely to commit violence at the moment– which wasn't saying a lot, since he currently felt like ripping Vita's throat open and feasting on her innards– strode to the computer and shifted form so as to do the necessary clicking.

_From: ChaoLingshen at ChaoCorp dot com_

_To: FrauVitaYagami at Mahoo dot com. _

_Subject: Fuyuki City 5__th__ Holy Grail War has commenced._

_See Entry in Book Of Darkness regarding the Holy Grail War._

"Delete it," Vita growled. She even managed to do that numbly.

Signum strode forward and slapped the girl. Vita's head snapped around as she was thrown against the far end of the sofa by the force. The redhead stared at the taller woman.

"We are not spoiled for choice," Signum said, picking up the Book, and flipping pages until it came to a relatively legible entry. "Fuyuki City was part of your research. We shall begin correcting the Book's condition by having Shamal examine it as soon as possible and ascertain its state, and then we shall fill its pages."

"After we visit Hayate at the hospital," Zafira said quietly.

Signum didn't even blink. "Yes, of course. That's what I meant."

Vita nodded jerkily. She found herself rubbing her cheek unconsciously, and stopped. "Yes," she said. "We'll go and visit Hayate-chan. And then we go to Fuyuki City…"

At the latter part of her statement, something finally seeped into her tone. Eagerness.

...

When the fire was finally put out, a strangely difficult task, night had fallen. There were surprisingly few lasting injuries, thanks to the combined efforts of Konoka, Yuuno and strategically placed mages on the University Hospital's staff. They managed to attribute the latter to the former, and no one was the wiser.

The TSAB, with Mahora's permission, took possession of the Core-drained, treating them on the _Asura _before sending them down to an apoplectic Evangeline's resort to recover. Lee Syaoran, who'd been inside, had missed everything, though he'd clearly felt the blast wave of the explosion, which within the resort had been drawn out for several minutes. He called it the most disturbing thing to happen to him since the last time he'd talked to Tomoyo.

Everyone had gone home, tired and filled with the taste of a bittersweet victory. Nanoha lay awake, staring at her ceiling, wondering where it had all gone wrong…

Yuuno, glad to once more be curled up in his familiar basket– he actually liked the thing. Relatively speaking, it was much more comfortable than a bed in his human form– thought back to the conversation he'd had with Chrono on the way from the Main Office. "_I think there's something you should know regarding the information about the Book of Darkness, and this investigation…_"

...

Hayate lay on an unfamiliar bed, staring out the window, trying to ignore the occasional pangs of pain that wrenched at her chest. She felt strangely cold. She hadn't realized how much she'd gotten used to the feeling of Vita sleeping next to her. Warm, cute, cuddly Vita. Were her knights all right? Had they eaten? She hoped they'd be able to make something healthy. How much ice-cream was left in the freezer? Surely Vita wouldn't make that her dinner, would she? She wouldn't want her knight getting fat, no matter how cute the image of a chubby Vita was.

She giggled at the mental image, but her chest wrenched, and the giggle became a hiss of pain.

"Are you all right?"

Hayate looked up at the nurse who'd just entered her room. She carried a clipboard, which she hastily set down as she went up to Hayate and began seeing if she was all right. "Are you hurt?" the nurse asked. "Can you breath okay?"

Hayate shook her head. "I'm all right," she lied. There was no need to waste her time. "I just miss home, is all. I miss my family."

The nurse smiled a small, sad smile. "I know what that's like," she said, taking Hayate's hand and squeezing it, a gesture of comfort that Hayate was grateful for, despite the woman being a stranger. She seemed nice enough. "Are you sure you're all right?"

Hayate nodded, her smiled practiced. "I'm fine, really. I just miss home."

The nurse nodded. "Well, if you need anything, tell me. I'm here to help."

"Thank you, Nurse…" Hayate leaned forward to try and read the woman's ID tag.

"Tsukino," the nurse provided. "Tsukino Usagi."

Hayate laughed. "Really?"

"Well, technically it's Chiba Usagi, but my mother's maiden name is more fun," the nurse said, pushing back a strand of pink hair from her face with a laugh. "Don't forget to tell me if you need anything, Hayate-chan."

Hayate nodded as the woman slipped out, then frowned. When had she given her name? It must have been on the woman's clipboard. Yes, that was it.

Sighing, Hayate stared out the window, wondering how her knights were doing…

...

**- To be continued in **_**FATE/Holy Grail War of 2814**_**...**

...

A/N: Sorry for the abrupt end of the Mahora Battle. I realized this was suffering from arc fatigued, and wrapped it up.

There is a _disturbingly_ high possibility that Tsukuyomi might be an Aoyama, possibly either Motoko and Tsuruko's sister, or given the time-frame, Tsuruko's daughter. Heck, she could even be Konoka's cousin, given that Eishun was an Aoyama before _he_ married _into_ the Konoe family. That's just messed up. I liked her better when I had no possible way to give her a last name.

Sayo is riding a Human Gundam made by Hakase from one of the left-over Production Model Chachamaru's, since I'd rather really not think about the exact capabilities of Haruna's book…

Just read Negima 300 and 301! Cocone has a disturbing tagline before her name.

The end is coming. TRACE ON! TvTropes, dattebayo!

Please review, C&C welcome.

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	18. Interlude 1: Moments in the Limelight

A/N: _SCM walks onstage. Since he's never likely going to be able to do it in real life, it's the stage at Carnegie Hall_

"Ahem. The drop in is a parody. Regardless to how he got the crap beaten out of him in _**Akanema**_, I do not hate the implied character, merely poking fun at over twenty years and counting worth of bad fanfics about him and co. I'm honestly planning to do a him/her-centric fic in future, but right now, it's fun to poke at the Mary-Sue-fied version of him that fan wank has generated. If it makes you feel any better, consider this a jab at Evil!that guy. Please don't flame me for it. If you have been offended… well, I apologize, but you can't please everybody. And I bet better than even odds you'll look back on this in a few years and think 'you know, maybe he has a point'. Oh, and his series isn't going to be in this fic, except as gags and other parodies. I want a sex-changing guy with a harem, I'm using _**Kämpfer**_. It has canonical lesbians! Plus the guns are cool."

_We now return you to your regularly scheduled Authors notes._

A light interlude of random characters, all in chronological order, all after last chap's events. Still with story significance, though. I thought it was time for something a little different…

Recommend you read _**Confessions of a Lolicon**_ to understand some things. That can be regarded as canon to this fic. Same for _**Temptation**_.

_**OverMaster**_is to blame for inspiring the father/daughter scene. You'll know which one when you read it. Check out his fics if you like my brand of crack pairings. TvTropes, dattebayo!

...

Takamachi Nanoha of 2814

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 18: Interlude 1: Moments in the Limelight

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story. If I did… well, this would all be canon. WARNING: MAY CAUSE HEAD EXPLOSION!

...

It is a sad but true fact that despite Tokyo having a lot of Magical Girls, Metahumans and powered-Armor wearers, very few of them actually fight crime. Well, to be fair, few of them do it regularly, or a lot. After all, the Tokyo Police do relatively solid work– relative, at least, to Gotham City– and between the Invaders, this year's new magical empire intent on taking over peoples hearts/dreams/crystals/kitchen sink, the giant monsters, the not-so-giant monsters, and the regular-sized monsters who haven't taken the hint that humans have nukes, and whatever else that comes along, the powered-types are kind busy.

That had been changing over the past year, however.

They called themselves Team Dark Smoke Lightning Strike Octopus Chuck Norris. And they were ninja. And not just lame ninja, BADASS NINJA! With GUNS! MACHINE GUNS! And as soon as they had the money, Lex-Corp brand Laser Katanas!

They clearly did not do their research. Sivana Industries made the Laser Katanas, not Lex-Corp.

To their credit, they actually _were_ ninja. Ninja usually fell under two major groups, with three categories in all. There was the first category of the ninja who had brains. One category either took up other jobs because, let's be fair, being a ninja doesn't pay much in this day and age, and kept up the training as a weekend exercise thing or as a matter of pride and an actual respect for the martial arts, all the while becoming police, or soldiers, or accountants, or bakers, or toymakers, or anything else BUT a full time ninja.

The second category were those who were full time ninja because, let's again be fair, there ARE those who'd pay an obscene amount of money to have ninja in their goon squad. Yakuza, Daidouji Tomoyo, any number of overly financed cults, Daidouji Tomoyo, the League of Assassins (which had good benefits, but lousy working conditions), Daidouji Tomoyo, so-called 'elite' military formations, Daidouji Tomoyo, the Mythbusters, Daidouji Tomoyo, Mahora Academy and Daidouji Tomoyo employed ninja, just to name a few. Take notes, this might be important.

And then there was the third category. The ones who'd watched too many bad ninja movies made in Japan, even worse ninja movies made in the United States, Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles, La Blue Girl and it's ilk, and thought Naruto was an accurate depiction of ninjutsu (to be fair again, in not-so-few clans, it was). The ones who banded together and made up group names like Team Dark Smoke Lightning Strike Octopus Chuck Norris, and called themselves something-maru and had personalized logos. The ninja clans' equivalent of emos and punks and gangsta wannabes. The kind that made ninja parents wonder where they'd gone wrong, and moan that they used to be such a good boy when they were younger, and that it was all the fault of these 'pokey-men' and entertained thoughts about killing Kishimoto, but didn't because they responsible adults who either work nine to five as an accountant or 24/7 as one of any number of dark lord wanabe's minions.

You know. Idiots.

Some actually even wear orange!

Anyway, Team Dark Smoke Lightning Strike Octopus Chuck Norris had decided it was a good idea to knock over an appliance store for some quick cash. After all, one of them knew a guy who knew a guy. That was all they needed, right? Sure, some of them were nervous about the rumors of something taking down some of the mob, but they weren't mob– YET! Because they would soon be the BIGGEST BADASSES IN THE CITY!– so they weren't worried. No one paid attention to the likes of them– AND THAT WOULD BE THEIR UNDOING! After all, it wasn't like they were giant monsters, or soul-stealing fetish-fuel drones or anything important like that.

They were in the middle of all this when several giant green spotlights lit them up, to the sound of several over-powered speakers play 'Ride of the Valkyries'.

"Attention!" a loud voice boomed. "You are breaking and entering and will be placed under arrest! Please come quietly, or I will be forced to get creative!"

Machine gun fire answered.

There was a magnified sigh. "Well, I did warn you. One final warning before I move in."

Badassmaru turned to his friend Awesomemaru. "Maybe we'd better turn ourselves in, dood. That looks like Green Lantern, dood. She's crazy, dood! Remember that giant Gundam she made, dood?"

"Eh, it doesn't sound like Green Lanter, dattebayo. Green Lantern's a girl, dattebayo. That sounds like a guy, dattebayo." He turned towards the opening through which the lights shown and the voice had come through strongest. "DO YOUR WORST, DATTEBAYO!"

Silence. And then, something big and green approached the opening.

"CRAP, IT'S AN ANTI-NINJA TENTACLE MONSTER! WE SURRENDER! DON'T SURPRISE BUTT SECKS US!"

Outside, Yuuno sweatdropped. "Wow, ninja really _are_ more terrified of tentacle monsters…"

...

Shamal frowned down at the Book of Darkness, trying to stay analytical and calm, and not break down into nervous breakdown. "Well, we've lost a substantial number of pages. All in all, I'd say we're back down to about 215."

"215!" Vita exploded. "That's less than when we first ran into the little green bitch!"

Shamal winced. Lately, Vita's language had been going downhill.

Signum scowled. "Then we do what we've always done. We work on completing it. Is the part about the Holy Grail War existent?"

Shamal nodded.

"Well, spill it out, bitch!" Vita cried.

Shamal winced again, then read. Exposition took place.

Signum snapped her head towards Vita. "Find Fuyuki City. You should be competent enough to do that, at least."

Vita growled at her, but stomped off, slapping the computer into gear.

Shamal frowned worriedly, looking at the two as Signum grabbed her bath basket and slammed the door behind her. Since when did Signum bring a vibrator with her?

...

Emiya Kiritsugu sighed as Iris ran off to a nearby toy store with a prominent display of plush toys, shaking his head in amusement. Well, she was unlikely to get in any trouble there, and they had time to kill, since their train back home had been delayed. He hefted the case he carried, specially designed to smuggle the explosive magic rounds they'd bought from a contact of his. He hated leaving the kids alone, especially in the midst of a Holy Grail war, even for just a few hours, but he was confident in Saber and Berserker managing to protect them, should the worst happen and the Tohsaka and Edelfelt girls decide to go homicidal. Plus Sella and Leysritt were there. They should be fine for a few hours.

Spotting a nice little café that looked interesting, he sent Iris a text message saying where'd he'd be and stepped inside. It seemed fairly popular, and was apparently a family-run establishment. A little girl who looked barely ten was taking orders from a group of girls her own age, and from they way they were chatting they seemed to be her friends. The display of cakes looked nice, and he began to head there for a closer look…

And froze, noticing the man standing behind the cash register, staring at him. He cursed himself for a fool. Why hadn't he noticed sooner? It was too late now. The man had his hands under the counter. Was there a weapon there? Unlikely, but even an improvised throwing weapon…

Kiritsugu took a deep breath and slowly walked towards the cake display, obviously looking at it, before turning to the man behind the counter. He nods to the man. "Fuwa," he said neutrally.

Shiro returned the gesture. "Emiya," he said.

Silence ruled.

The little girl trotted up to the counter. "Dad, I have an order for three chocolate cakes, and three iced teas."

Kiritsugu's eyes flicked to the girl as Shiro rang up the orders. When he met Shiro's eyes again, they had narrowed.

"Your daughter?" Kiritsugu said, placing as much good will as possible without sounding like a pervert into the question.

"Yes," Shiro said flatly. The muscles along his forearm had tightened, indicating he was gripping something.

"She seems like a nice girl," Kiritsugu said. "I have a daughter the same age. Would you like to see a picture?"

Shiro blinked.

Kiritsugu pulled out his wallet, smiling inanely. "This is Illya-chan. She takes after her mother." He showed the other man the picture.

"She looks very cute," Shiro said, with a hint of wariness, as if wondering how the words would be taken.

"Apple of her mother's eye," Kiritsugu confirmed. "I'll have one chocolate cake, if you would. She'd like that. Actually, make it two. Her mother likes chocolate as well. No, make it three. We're having guests over."

Shiro gave him a look, but began to punch in the order.

"I see you're out of the business too," Kiritsugu commented as he waited. "I hope you didn't do in anyone I liked on the way out."

Shiro raised an eyebrow, and said, "Clover."

"Oh, that's all right, then. I couldn't stand those assholes."

Shiro chuckled, relaxing slightly. "And you?"

"Left after I met the wife," Kiritsugu said. "A family man can't afford to deal with such foolishness."

Shiro smiled slightly. "True."

"SQUEEEE!"

They both turned to find Iris, a bag of plushies over one shoulder, squealing in delight over an adorable-looking blonde girl with her hair in two tails. "Oh, Kiritsugu, she's so CUTE! Can we keep her?"

"Iris, what have I said about randomly kidnapping people?" Kiritsugu said.

"But she's so CUTE!" Iris whined as the girl blushed in embarrassment. "Besides, Illya-chan and Kuro-chan might like another sister!"

The blonde girl and little girl playing waitress both perked up. "Kuro and Illya?" they both said.

Iris blinked, looking down at the blonde. "You know them?"

"Um, kinda," the girl said. "We frequent the same Magical Girl enthusiasts web site. Illya's really a fan of Magical Girl Kaleido Ruby."

"See, she already knows Kuro and Illya!" Iris said to Kiritsugu. "Can we keep her?"

"_No_, dear," Kiritsugu said in a firm if exasperated tone.

"Meanie! See if I give you any more blow– "

Kiritsugu held up the cakes.

She was glomped on his side in an instant. "YOU'RE THE BEST HUSBAND EVER!"

"The only one, I hope," he said. He turned to Shiro. "Fuwa-san."

"Emiya-san," Shiro said. "Drop by again some time."

There was some smidgeon of sincerity there.

...

Sakurazaki Setsuna took a deep breath of the frost air, let it out slowly. She'd thought long and hard about this, her sense of propriety and embarrassment warring with her pragmatism and pride. To use it, to master it, or not?

Her recent battle had shown her that _maybe _a little work wouldn't be so bad. It had provided the crucial push to make her do this, and now she had to go on before she started developing second thoughts.

She'd flown here, deep into the woods in the mountains that stood near Mahora, to give herself the privacy to practice this. She knew the basics, but she needed to refine it if she was going to make it a regular, if highly forbidden, part of her arsenal. Taking a deep breath, holding Yuunagi in her hands with her eyes closed as she focused herself, she concentrated on the technique, targeting the series of logs in front of her, one behind the other.

Her eyes snapped open, her sword moving. "Shinmei-ryu forbidden-to-me technique! Zanmaken Ni-no-Tachi! _In Celebration Of My First Kiss With Konoka Oujo-Sama Strike!_"

The strike lashed out, passing through the first in a shower of sawdust as the one behind it was completely cleaved through. She released a gasp as she finished the technique, panting. Not perfect yet. It hadn't gone through the first one completely, as it should have. She'd still need to work on it, but it was progress.

She froze, heart squeezing in purest terror as she heard applause behind her. She turned slowly, horrified.

Kaede and Cassandra stood behind her, the former slowly clapping, the latter looking from Setsuna, to her sword, to the logs, and back again, over and over.

"H-how long have you been standing there?" Setsuna squeaked.

"Long enough," Kaede said, face perfectly smooth. No, not perfectly. Her lower lip kept vibrating in restrained laughter, damn it. "I invited Cassandra-san up here to train."

"If you tell anyone…" Setsuna said.

Kaede made a zipping gesture over her mouth, a small smile treacherously curving her lips. "Not a word."

Cassandra pointed hesitantly. "Teach me?"

...

Tomoyo whistled tunelessly as she lay on her back, working on her helicopter. The landing gear needed a little adjustment, and she figured it was a good way to blow off a weekend morning before had tea with the girls. Ayaka promised to give an account of what had happened at Mahora, and said she was bringing along a friend of hers who worked at the Ibayamian Embassy.

Footsteps approached, and she tensed, reaching for the kodachi she'd had hidden amongst her tools, before she recognized Syaoran's footsteps. "You want something, Lee-kun?" she said.

Syaoran coughed nervously. "Um, Daidouji, I have an awkward request to ask of you…"

She frowned, and rolled out from under the helicopter, looking up at him. "What?"

"Can you send a message to cousin Sandra? I mean, Lady Shiva? When I told mother I'd run into her, she insisted I try to invite her to Christmas… Oh, will you please stop laughing!"

...

Alisa sighed as she, Suzuka and Fate sat at a window-side table at Midori-Ya. "Where _is_ Nanoha-chan?" she complained while Suzuka played with the pet ermine Yuuno. She frowned at Fate, who'd been spending the most time with the missing girl recently. "Did she tell you what was taking her so long?"

Fate shook her head. She'd been getting a lot of practice at covering for Nanoha lately, with the lack of alerts about the Wolkenritter. "No, though I think she's picking up a few last-minute secret presents. Maybe they're for us, so she doesn't want us to know?"

Suzuka looked up, frowning. "What's that whistling sound?"

Alisa looked around too. Fate looked out the window, and her eyes went wide. "DUCK!" she cried, grabbing the other two girls and pulling them out of the booth, so hard they rolled on the ground and crashed against another table.

"Fate-chan, what…?" Alisa exclaimed.

A moment later, the window they'd been sitting next to shattered under the impact of Green Lantern flying through it. She smashed through the table as well, reducing it into so much kindling, left several deep dents on the wooden floor as she rolled across, barely missed the cake display, and ended up half in and half out of the kitchen door, her legs and one arm sticking out.

"Owie…" her voice said, drifting through the open door.

"Green Lantern-san!" Shinobu cried in concern, putting away her serving tray heading for the first aid kit. "Are you all right?"

The visible hand gave a thumbs-up of confirmation, though there was another pained groan.

In the ruckus, no one noticed Fate, her cute little puppy, and the ermine disappear.

An evil laugh sounded from the broken window, and everyone turned to see a masked and red-and-black armored man, his only identifying feature a long black pigtail and a voice that sounded kinda like Inu-Yasha. "Stupid girl! he cried, flexing his armored muscles. "NO ONE can beat Wild Horse Chaos! With my panty-stealing based martial arts and my grand total of two chi blast techniques which I modify at the drop of a hat with absolutely no pre-testing before hand and for some reason rename in Gratuitous English as if I couldn't speak Japanese to save my life, I will defeat you and prove my manliness to my mother! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Alisa sweatdropped. "Okay, that's just… I don't know how to put it."

"_Lightning Bind!_"

Wild Horse Chaos's arms and legs are suddenly spread eagled, glowing golden rings appearing around wrists and ankles as electricity suddenly streaks through him. "ARGH! What? Who dares?-!"

"I dare!" a voice outside said, the speaker invisible to those inside the café. Some customers moved to get a better look.

A black-clad girl with a cape, twin tails of long golden hair, and an axe-like staff floated outside, with a masked red-haired woman floating to one side and the newly-appeared male Green Lantern floating on the other. She looked quite angry behind her mask, and she gestured with her axe like she meant to drub someone senseless with it. "Green Lantern-chan is an upstanding member of the community, who works tirelessly for the protection and welfare of all! Ceaselessly working on behalf of both the greater and lesser goods, she is a figure worthy of respect and admiration! I will not allow you to so callously attack her! In the name of Green Lantern's honor, I, Magical Girl Black Reaper-chan, will punish you!"

She posed. Sailor Moon would have been proud.

"SUGOI!" Suzuka cried, starry-eyed, and many customers applauded in agreement.

Alisa stared at the new magical girl, feeling a heat rushing to her face, then began to pound her head against a wall. "First Testarossa, and now this new girl," she muttered to herself. "I'm secure in my sexuality, darn it!"

Wild Horse Chaos growled, and using his highly advanced knowledge and martial arts ability, flexed his pecs in such a way as to cause a (long stupid line of incomprehensible self-aggrandizing chi-asspull babble) and managed to break out of the bind. "Hey! Who do you think you are, interfering with my duel with Green Lantern that started with me pushing her into the path of a truck while she was helping an old lady cross the street?"

The Magical Girl posed again. The redness on her face was obviously from hot-bloodedness and not overwhelming embarrassment. "Of coursed I'd interfere! I'm Green Lantern's–"

"Wife, " the masked red-haired woman coughed.

"–wife!" Black Reaper-chan finished. Then her eyes widened as she realized what had just come out of her mouth. "NO! NOT HER WIFE! DEFINITELY NOT HER WIFE! NOT HER WIFE AT ALL! BECAUSE I DON'T LIKE HER! WELL, I LIKE HER, BUT I DON'T _LIKE_ HER! I MEAN YES I LIKE HER, BUT I DON'T _LIKE_ HER LIKE HER! WE'RE FRIENDS! _JUST_ FRIENDS! WELL, MAYBE NOT JUST FRIENDS, WE'RE–"

"Life partners?" the male Green Lantern suggested innocently.

Fate paused, obviously thinking this over. Well, yes, they were partners in a fight, and in this investigation, and they trusted each other with their lives, so… "Yes, that's it! We're life partners!" she cried in relief.

Everyone in hearing range but Fate, even Wild Horse Chaos, looked at the male Green Lantern with raised eyebrows, while he smiled widely and whistled innocently. The red-haired woman said what they were all thinking.

"You are a very, _very_ sneaky little boy, Ferret Lantern."

"That's it, I'm officially changing my name," he said. "Maybe I can call myself 'The Librarian God' or something."

"I will say right now you have neither the rack, the sweater or the Meganekko to pull off that name," the woman said.

"Why must you ruin a perfectly good mental image like that?"

Wild Horse Chaos interrupted. "Ha ha! Well, I'll just take care of you with a technique I make up on the spot! _Hiryu Shoten Ha, Revised! No Need For Spirals Magical Girl Smasher!_"

"_Plasma Smasher!_" Black Reaper cried.

"AH! _THE RENAME DOES NOTHING! NO! HOW CAN THIS BE! I am invicibl– _oh crap."

"Evil Overlord List?" Librarian God nee Ferret Lantern said.

"Rule 24," the still somehow nameless masked woman said.

Wild Horse Chaos threw up his hands to the heavens. "COULD THIS GET ANY WORS– oh crap."

Someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned.

Momoko and Miyuki Takamachi, Joshima Akira, Lianfei Ren and Suzuka's sister Shinobu, all wielding frying pans, rolling pins and in Momoko's case, a pair of meat cleavers. Why they had meat cleavers in a predominantly pastry café is best left unconsidered. "Oh Mister Supervillain who picks on little girls," the Takamachi matron said brightly. "We'd like a word with you about our window…"

Wild Horse Chaos reeled back widely. "Aggressive, violent women in my age group and older! My one weakness! How did you know?-!"

"We didn't," Miyuki said, holding her frying pans and smiling. "But thank for telling us…"

"Oh, crap."

Shiro and Kyouya, who were helping a still slightly woozy Green Lantern sit up, exchanged looks. "And that, my boy, is why I married your mother."

...

Gotham was cold in the winter. Fortunately, she knew how to keep warm.

The rec room of Arkham Asylum was crowded, the tree was set up and creatively as non-usable as weapon as possible, there were actually a few presents under it, and some of the criminally insane proved that being that didn't mean they stopped being human as Poison Ivy fretted what to give Harley for Christmas that didn't require her breaking out and stealing something, several people watched reruns of "It's a Wonderful Life" and half-assed considered going straight, and Two Face, The Riddler, Mr. Freeze and Mad Hatter played the Dresden Files RPG.

The Joker, ironically, was the only downer, growling about how he couldn't watch Looney Toons and muttering about the Bat being out of the country during their Special Santa Trauma Time. Harley, cuddling next to him, was trying her best to tease him out of it. It wasn't working this time.

Outside the door, there was a bloodcurdling scream, several shots of panic fire, a wet splattering sound, and a cute, girlish laugh.

Everyone looked up, mildly curious.

The Joker suddenly perked up, head snapping to the door, nearly braining Harley with his chin.

Blood began to creep under the opening. They heard what sounded like an orgasmic moan of delighted pleasure.

Some of the older inmate's eyes went wide, and there was a wild scramble for them to get to the opposite side of the room.

The double doors suddenly burst open, and a blood-splattered little girl wearing the cutest loli-goth dress not on Evangeline McDowell, with fur and lacy bits and ribbons and cute trim and bunnies and a nice hat to go with it and rather sexy and highly inappropriate pantyhose burst through, a completely blood-drenched sword of differing lengths in either hand, a wild smile on her blood-spattered face, only her glasses not speckled in hemoglobin and plasma. "Daddy! Merry Christmas!"

The Joker leaped to his feet, knocking Harley off his lap with a high pitch cry, arms held wide open, his wide manic smile seemingly wider than usual. "Cutie-pie! You came to visit your old man!"

They rushed into each other's arms, both careless of the bloody swords she held as she leaped, and they shared a saccharine spinning hug, the Joker holding her under her arms and lifting her up.

"Daddy!"

"Cutie Pie!"

"_Daddy!_"

"_Cutie Pie!_"

The little girl pouted. "Daddy!" she cried, this time indignant. "You still can't pronounce my name, can you?"

"Of course I can, Swee pea! It's… Akatsuki, right?"

"NO! That's a group of serial killer ninja wannabes!"

"Well, maybe you should change your name, then!"

"Now, you remember that agreement with Mommy," the little girl said, waggling her sword and bleeding the Joker in the forearm with the sword in that hand. They didn't notice. "I keep my name."

"Control freak one-night stand!" Joker exclaimed.

The Riddler covered his head, rocking back and worth. "This isn't happening again. It's not happening again. It's not happening again…"

Poison Ivy had turned yellow as blood left her face, and she was frantically trying to claw her way through the wall.

"I bought you a present!" the little girl cried, reaching into her cleavage, such as it was, and pulling out a big box. "Here!"

The Joker did. "Aw, it's the head of that guy in the parking lot security hut! You shouldn't have!" he kissed her on the forehead, getting blood on his lips. "Hmm, O-positive!"

"DADDY!" the girl cried. "You're supposed to wait until Christmas before you open it! Where's my present?"

The Joker froze, beginning to sweat. "Um, ah…"

"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE!" Harley Quinn cried.

"Shut up woman, the demon will here you!" Mad Hatter cried.

"–in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will be done–" Two Face prayed.

"–in Gotham, Batman be thy name–" Scarecrow used the Gotham Street version.

Joker pointed at Harley. "Merry Christmas, Daddy's Darling!"

"Huh?" the little girl said.

"I've got you a brand new mommy candidate!" Joker said.

"OH!" the litter girl cried, running up to Harley.

"HARLEY, _NO! __**RUN!**_" Poison Ivy cried, trying to reach her best friend.

"It's too late for her," Mr Freeze said, holding her back. "Let it go."

"HARLEY! HARLEY!"

The little looked up at Harley, bright eyed. "Are you going to be my new mommy?"

Harley brightened. "Yes, I am! Do you like that?"

"Yay!" the little girl cried. "But first, I have to see if you're good enough…"

Harley suddenly found herself being slammed on the floor as the girl straddled her hips, tongue licking the sword she held in one hand. "My name is Tsukuyomi. And if you're going to be my new mommy, I'll have to see how well you can… _satisfy_…"

The blade flicked down, tearing Harley's prisoner jumpsuit open…

An hour later, Tsukuyomi got off a wide-eyed and shaking Harley. "You'll do."

She turned to her father, who was watching Looney Toons. "OOH, is that the one where Elmer kills Bugs!"

Joker patted her lap, and father and daughter shared a moment watching cartoons…

...

Fate buried her face in her hands, simmering in despair at the Harlaown dinner table. One eye appeared to glare balefully at Yuuno. "I hate you Scrya," she said. "I hate you so much."

Yuuno smiled widely. "Well, at least you learned what 'life partner' meant."

Fate twitched as Arf shook with silent laughter, but before violence could ensue, Nanoha burst into the room, all smiles. "There she is!" she cried, rushing to Fate and enfolding her in a hug. "Uminari's newest Magical Girl! So, how did coming out to the public feel?"

If Fate wasn't absolutely sure Nanoha didn't know what that meant… "I can't ever show my face again," she moaned.

"Aw, you'll get used to it," Nanoha said, patting her on the shoulder. "Suzuka-chan was already organizing a Magical Girl Black Reaper-chan fan club when I finally finished repairing the cafe."

Fate banged her head against the table. Strangely, her thoughts began to mirror Vita's

Earth was clearly filled with crazy people.

...

Misora whistled a jaunty tune as she headed back to her dorm. It had been a good day, and Sister Shakti hadn't yelled at her once! Maybe she was getting this Magister thing down.

The opened the door to the dorm she shared with Cocone, stepped in and stared. Than she quickly slammed the door shut behind her.

Cocone smiled from where she lay on Misora's bunk, surrounded by flower petals. She raised a hand and crooked her finger at her Ministra.

Misora sighed happily. "I love these private rooms…"

...

"_No! We're running out of time!_

"_It won't stop regenerating!"_

"_Freezing it isn't enough!"_

"_Need… more… Mana! Can't… use Unlimited…"_

"_Kuro! Some catch her."_

"_I've got her Illya-chan!"_

"_Hit it with everything we've got! More Dakka!"_

"_I'm out of ordinance! I knew I should have put in more of the nukes!"_

"_**No!**__ We're so __**close! **__My Berserker __**will**__ have JUSTICE!"_

"_We need more time!"_

"_Princess…"_

"_NO! Don't you __**dare!**__"_

"_As you all say, we need more time…"_

"_**NO! **__I'm __**ordering**__ you, __**NO**__!"_

"_Good bye…"_

"_Stop her!"_

"_Time… Stop…"_

"_PLUTO!"_

She snapped awake.

She sat up, rubbing her eyes at the tears that stung her. The dream had been coming more often now, almost everyone night. The monster changed, but the futility stayed the same.

She cried.

...

**- To be continued...**

...

A/N: Huh, freaky coincidence. There are two Shiro's in this story, and I didn't notice until now.

_SCM walks onstage__ again. Since he's never likely going to be able to do it in real life, it's the stage at the Syney Opera House._

"Ahem. Just to repeat it if anyone missed it the first time. The drop in was a parody. Regardless to how he got the crap beaten out of him in _**Akanema**_, I do not hate the implied character, merely poking fun at over twenty years and counting worth of bad fanfics about him and co. I'm honestly planning to do a him/her-centric fic in future, but right now, it's fun to poke at the Mary-Sue-fied version of him that fan wank has generated. If it makes you feel any better, consider this a jab at Evil!that guy. Please don't flame me for it. If you have been offended… well, I apologize, but you can't please everybody. And I bet better than even odds you'll look back on this in a few years and think 'you know, maybe he has a point'. Oh, and his series isn't going to be in this fic, except as gags and other parodies. I want a sex-changing guy with a harem, I'm using _**Kämpfer**_. It has canonical lesbians! Plus the guns are now, to use up the rest of the stage, we present _**VENGEANCE! The Musical! The Life Story of Uchiha Sasuke!**_"

_We now return you to your regularly scheduled Authors notes._

I can't seem to think of a good Superhero name for Arf. I'm seriously considering calling her either Nameless or Monty Python's Flying Superheroine. Yuuno is suffering fro ma similar problem, in that I can't think of a GOOD name for him beyond, horror of horrors, Ferret Lantern.

Please review, C&C welcome.

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	19. Interlude 2: Standby, Ready Setup

A/N: The start of the chapter happens immediately after _**FATE/Holy Grail War of 2814 **_Chapter 8. I'm going to try interweaving this and FATE 2814 from this point on, since I don't want this to go stale. After all, there's more to being a GL than fighting Wolkenritter. Tell me how it works out?

Events happen as so: The Fate group end up fighting Shinji around lunch, Nanoha skips school to check them out, and she gets back in time to meet Hayate.

Did anyone else notice that in the 4th Magical World OAD, the opening had a special close-in shot of Chisame's breasts? Not that I mind, but hardly subtle…

...

Takamachi Nanoha of 2814

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 19: Interlude 2: Standby, Ready. Setup.

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story. If I did… well, this would all be canon. WARNING: MAY CAUSE HEAD EXPLOSION!

...

Fate blinked in surprise as she put down her school bag on her desk. "Hospitalized?" she said.

"Hayate-chan?" Alisa said, her tone as shocked, staring at Suzuka.

The purple-haired girl nodded, hands clasped in worry. "I got an email last night saying so. She looked fine the last time I saw her, but there are a lot of medical tests they have to perform, and that'll take some time." She looked down, her concern written large on her face.

"I see…" Alisa said. "Then, do you want we go visit her after school?"

"Really?" Suzuka said.

"She's your friend, right?" Alisa said, waving a hand. "And you did say you introduce us. And since we're going to visit her in the hospital, the more the merrier, right?"

Fate blushed. "Um, I'm not too sure about barging in like that…"

"Oh, it'll be all right," Alisa said. She turned to Suzuka. "Right?"

Suzuka nodded. "Thank you!"

Nanoha blinked, looking between them. She put her chin in her hands, looking thoughtful. Then, she said, "Who's Hayate?"

There are consequences to being dedicated to your work.

...

Shamal was having a very bad week. First had been the utter failure at Mahora that had resulted in the Book of Darkness getting damaged. Then there had been Hayate's condition getting worse. And now…

Now there seemed to be something _wrong _with the other knights.

Vita locking herself up in the bathroom for extended lengths of time… that wasn't anything new. Her literally screaming about Hayate? Even Vita had more self-control than that. She seemed to be in a perpetual bad mood and Shamal would have suspected biological reasons if she hadn't known better.

Zafira seemed to have picked up Vita's attitude. Whenever she talked to the local housewives– who were all very concerned about Hayate, who was such a nice girl, and offered their sympathies– there was always mentioned of stray cats and dogs being founded horribly maimed and dead. She'd kept quiet about this, but it was quite frankly disturbing to hear evidence of the normally reserved and level-headed Zafira getting so… feral.

Dogs aren't usually found with their guts ripped out and their head twisted around on the roofs of two story houses, after all.

And as for Signum…

"_Shamal… I __**need**__ you…_"

Shamal couldn't tell, because memory was a fuzzy thing with them between masters, but she was pretty sure it had been a long time since Signum had asked _that_ of her.

Shamal frowned at the memory

And it really showed, since Signum had been very clumsy and didn't seem to know where everything went anymore, and Shamal had needed to do the work and Signum trying to be aggressive had _not_ helped, so Shamal had needed to flip things around to get anything done, and she _really_ didn't like doing all the work…

Shamal realized she was just staring at the bento she was putting together, drool dripping out one corner of her mouth.

Shaking her head to get such thoughts out of the way and making sure she hadn't dripped on the food, she wiped her face and got back to putting the food together, trying to push the thought that something might be _wrong_ with the other knights. Maybe she was looking at this problem the wrong way. After all, Hayate was in trouble, their best hope of helping her had been horrendously damaged (thought thankfully the book itself was intact, and merely the accumulated data and energy had been damaged), and the three who should have been keeping stuff like that from happening had not been able to keep it from happening. Maybe she should be wondering why _she_ wasn't so stressed out with worry?

Her phone rang, and she paused in the bento construction, smiling at the message from Suzuka. Such a thoughtful girl…

And then she saw the long-haired blonde girl in the picture.

Shamal dropped her phone.

It was official. She was having a _very _bad week.

...

The door to the room slammed open and Kotaro came rushing in, panting. "NEGI!" he cried, pointing frantically back the way he came. "You have _got_ to come see this!"

Asuna, Setsuna, Konoka, Negi and Chamo followed Kotaro, confused but rushing because of the urgency in his voice. He led them to the room he shared with Chizuru, Ayaka and his girlfriend. The former two were gone for club activities, but the room was packed with Ala Alba, staring at a news report.

For those of you just tuning in," the newscaster conveniently said, "Fuyuki City was rocked today by its first monster attack in recent history. Though already known as containing the Magical Girls Kaleido Ruby and Kaleido Sapphire, as well as the mysterious 'Dark Ruby', its Homurabara Gakuen was today the scene of both an infiltration by the forces of evil _and_ a giant monster attack! Matou Shinji, who his close friends describe as 'an asshole' was implicated by Kaleido Ruby as being either possessed by forces of evil, or being an imposter. Shortly after he was unmasked, the school was attacked by a highly Freudian Phallic monster."

The scene switched to what was apparently a cell phone video, showing a large, tubular creature. For some reason, the girls in the room began darting glances at Negi, who was completely entranced at the news article.

The video then cut to another one. The scenery had changed somehow, and the worm had turned to stone– again more sidelong looks at Negi– and a girl was the focus of the shot, clad in black loligoth and masked, obviously a Magical Girl.

"Trace, on! _Zankanken! Battleship Slicing Sword!_"

Everybody blinked.

"Please tell me that's not Rakan's daughter or something," Chisame moaned.

"She certainly jumps like Rakan-san," Negi noted.

"Trace, on!" the girl cried again, and another sword appeared in her hand, a nodachi. "_Shinmeiryu Zanmaken Ni-no-Tachi! In Celebration of Elegant Meido Swordswoman AngelGARd's First Kiss With Her Magus Albus Ojou-sama Strike!_""

Setsuna paled in purest horror. Somehow, she also managed to blush so as so make stoplights seem dull.

"What was that?-!-?-!" everyone else exclaimed.

Fortunately, the channel decided to run the clip again.

"_Shinmeiryu Zanmaken Ni-no-Tachi! In Celebration of Elegant Meido Swordswoman AngelGARd's First Kiss With Her Magus Albus Ojou-sama Strike!_""

Setsuna began to pull her blazer over her head as everyone slowly turned to look at her.

"Please kill me now…" she whimpered.

"Aw, Set-chan!" Konok cried, enfolding her best friend in a hug to make her feel better. She kissed her cheek to try and make her feel better.

Setsuna twitched, eyes rolling back and on the verge of fainting.

Negi and Konoka's phones both rang. Asuna fished it out of Konoka's pocket since she was busy and she and Negi answered.

"It's the Headmaster," Negi said, holding the phone out to Setsuna. "He says congratulations for finally getting the nerve to go for it and wants to talk to you."

"It's Eishun-san," Asuna said, also holding the phone out. "He says congratulations, though he wondered how both the name and the technique got around, but says he can teach you the full, proper version once he's satisfied you'll do right by Konoka."

Setsuna's eyes rolled back completely and she fainted into Konoka's arms. She didn't seem to mind.

Asuna put the phone back to her ear. "She just fainted, Ferret-Lantern-san. Thanks for calling!"

"Master, I'm not sure that was such a good idea," Negi said, over the sound of Evangeline laughing herself sick coming from his phone.

Kaede smiled, stretching. At least she didn't have to break her promise…

...

"So, these are new allies of yours, Ruby-chan?" Green Lantern said as she delegated repairing giant worm damage to Ferret Lantern. She looked at them, taking note of Luvia's elegant dress, Rin's red sweater and black skirt, and Shiro's slightly sweat-stained shirt and pants, which really didn't go with his rather Marti Gras-looking mask. She leaned towards Illya. "Rin-san and Luvia-san look all right, but that one with the orange hair could use some new clothes. If you'd like, I could recommend someone…"

"Uh, no thanks, Green Lantern-chan," Illya said.

Lancer stared blankly. Then he leaned towards Archer and Saber. "_This_ is what counts for a hero these days? A little girl in a weird dress?"

Saber was inclined to agree. Archer quickly jabbed an elbow into his gut. "Are you insane, man?" he hissed. "Do you want the Green Devil to hear you? Because there are less painful ways to be utterly humiliated than insulting Little Miss Big Bang in front of her friends."

They gave him a look. "You know her?" Saber asked quietly.

"I read newspapers," Archer said. His look challenged anyone to doubt his word.

The other two looked at each other and shrugged.

"So, would you introduce me to everyone, Ruby?" Green Lantern was saying, looking curiously at everyone.

Illya looked around in panic. Berserker had disappeared, as seemed to be his wont, be everyone else was too present to just disappear without being noticed. "Uh, sure! You remember Ri– er…" too late, Illya realized they'd never around gotten around to making up names for Rin and Luvia. After al, they'd never expected for things to get this public. She improvised. "Um, I mean, Jewel Red and Blue, er–"

"Blaz?" Archer suggested innocently. Everyone gave him a look.

"Been going to the arcade, have we?" Rin said flatly.

Arher shrugged.

"Um, Blue Blaz!" Illya said, to which Luvia thought about it and shrugged. "Er, the girl in blue and armor is Saber, the one with a spear next to her is Lancer, and the other one is–"

"Mister Sarcastic," Archer said, absolutely deadpan.

Saber twitched. Her ahoge flipped around wildly. Then she turned and kicked Archer squarely in the ankle. With her steel-covered foot.

Archer gave a cry, hopping on one foot as he cradled the other. "Blast you woman, what in Regina Diabolica's Night Sky was that for?"

Sakura blinked at the name.

Saber turned a flat look at a confused Green Lantern. "He's Archer. Ignore any claims to the contrary."

"Um, okay," Green Lantern said nervously. She turned to Sakura and Rider. "And you are…?"

Rider tilted her head. "Actually, I kind of like the sound of Masked Rider Purple. A bit literal, but…" she shrugged.

"You're all new at this, huh?" Green Lantern said, looking over her shoulder at Ferret Lantern. "What about you, miss?" she asked Sakura.

"Oh, I'm no one, really," Sakura said, waving her hands frantically. "Just a passing through Magical Girl!"

"Well, that still means you have a name," Green Lantern pointed out.

Sakura pursed her lips, tilting her head. "I am the Vessel of the Blessed Wind. Call me… Reinforced."

"Nice to meet you, Reinforced-san."

Green Lantern finally turned to Shiro, who'd been staring between her and Illya in shock while they'd talked.

"You really _do_ know Green Lantern-ch– er, -san," Shiro said, surprise in his voice.

"EH?" Illya cried. "You didn't believe me, onii-chan? Me, your own precious little sister?"

"Oh, you're," Green Lantern looked in al directions, including up and down, then leaned forward and hissed, "Illya-chan's," before returning to a normal speaking register, "brother, still-nameless-san?"

"Uh, yes, Green Lantern-san," Shiro said, bowing. "My name is Emi–"

"His name is Tracer," Archer interjected. He glared at Shiro. "I'm choosing your name for you on the grounds you're too much of a moron to pick your own. For crying out loud man, you're wearing a mask and were still going to give her your real name! In public, no less! What are you, brain damaged?"

Shiro sighed. "Why are people always picking on me!-?" he cried.

"Aw," Kuro said. "Does onii-chan want me to make him feel better with a blo–"

With reflexes that were not hers, Sakura leapt to Kuro's side and placed a finger to her cheek. "Trace, on," she said.

A length of duct tape suddenly appeared over the Kuro's mouth.

The others stared… and everyone but Green Lantern broke into applause.

"I think…" Lancer said. "That we're going to like having you around, Reinforced."

Green Lantern blinked. "Did I miss something?"

Archer patted her on the shoulder. "Someone will explain it to you when you're older."

Green Lantern pouted. "Why do people keep telling me that!-?"

Then she sighed, and turned to Illya. "Well, I better get back. We're done here anyway. Tell me if you guys find any trace of the Wolkenritter, all right?"

Saber frowned. "The Wolkenritter?"

Illya explained as Green Lantern prepared to fly away.

Rider frowned. "Is one of them a little girl who fights with a mallet?"

Green Lantern froze, her head turning so fast there was an almost audible snap.

"What did you say?" she said.

...

Shinji was unconscious when they found him and he'd quickly been transported to the _Asura_ for medical aid. There'd been absolutely no sign of Zouken. They'd found a pile of rotting meat with traces of his genetic signature, and nothing beyond that. No one thought that was a good sign. Especially since the pile of meat had been inside a pile of clothes, with a recently-touched magazine– the oil of the fingerprints on it were still relatively fresh– lying next to it.

"Were these people mages?" Green Lantern asked.

"I'd heard of Matou Zouken," Jewel Red said. "Yes, he definitely was. But not Shinji. I'd know."

"He wasn't," Reinforced said. "He had absolutely no Magic Circuits. He was quite depressed about it. He'd stay up all night trying to learn magic, but… nothing."

Green Lantern frowned. "Not according to the Asura. They say his Linker Core is damaged from not being treated right away, but nothing permanent. They're considering him a lucky find. According to the analysis of his core, he's rating very high on the S-Arks-scale, for someone whose magic is dormant. His rating is second to only one other new mage in recent memory."

"Second to who?" Reinforced asked.

"Me," said Green Lantern.

...

It wasn't often that Nanoha felt awkward. Usually, she just powered on through meeting new people with cheerfulness at maximum power. Never the less, it was kind of embarrassing to meet a girl Suzuka had been talking about a lot for the past month but she'd only technically heard about now because she hadn't been paying proper attention.

Hayate-chan was quite nice and outgoing, and as friendly as Suzuka said she was. It was soon quite obvious why they were friends.

"Yes, Green Lantern-chan and Black Reaper-chan are definitely a couple," Hayate said, nodding in agreement with Suzuka. "Even from the news reports, it is quite obvious that Reaper-chan has a large amount of underlying sexual tension and in denial over Green Lantern-chan, and has a very Sapphic attraction to her."

"Exactly," Suzuka declared. "It's just like when Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura were arguing when they were younger! Sure, it looks like they're both in love with Sasuke, but after the time-skip, Ino had taken to dressing like Sasuke, surely as a means to invoke a nostalgia reaction from Sakura she could use to charm her!"

In the sidelines, Fate and Alisa blushed, though for completely different reasons. Nanoha just blinked in confusion at the conversation.

"It's the cats," Alisa was muttering. "The cats should have been a sign she's got some kind of evil in her…"

"It's not like that…" Fate muttered desperately. "I– er, Reaper-chan holds Green Lantern-chan very dear because she'd her first friend, and…"

"What are they talking about?" she asked. "What does 'sap-fic' mean?"

"Ask your mother when you're older," Alisa, Suzuka and Fate all chorused.

"Aww! Why does everyone keep telling me that!"

They joined in on the conversation when it had gotten to music and literature– "Meyer should die by being thrown in a pit of rabid tigers with steaks tied all around her body!" "No, she should be electrocuted until her body fat self-combusts!" "Rowling doesn't understand the subtex- ack, I can't keep a face straight enough to say that!"– and though Nanoha had joined in, she'd gotten a little bored. Her pop culture was a bit outdated, since she was so busy, and she made a note to tone it down a little, maybe work out a rotation with Yuuno after this investigation.

So she'd idly asked her ring to scan Hayate, since Nanoha was a bit curious to know what she was sick of. After all, being a Green Lantern meant helping people, and there was no reason Green Lantern couldn't put her considerable databanks of extra-terrestrial medicine to some good use…

Getting 'ERROR! SCAN INCONCLUSIVE!' messages wasn't reassuring…

...

_**BOOM!**_

"Yes!" Sailor Pluto cried, pumping her fist into the air and even doing a little happy dance that developed into a full-blown routine with head-bopping, waves and her skirt flicking dangerously high as the debris that used to be a big rock she'd just blasted apart rained around her. . "Momma's back! Maximum power, maximum carnage, and ready to kick ass!"

"Are we _sure _she didn't get at the alcohol?" Sailor Neptune whispered in an aside to Sailor Saturn. The little girl shook her head.

"The Master's been locking down the alcohol since we started spending more time here," the masked boy, Magus Erebus, said helpfully. "She's thoughtful that way." Sailor Neptune resisted the nearly overpowering urge to fluff her hair and act coy.

The rest of the Senshi made no such effort. She even caught Sailor Uranus about to do it before she realized her hair wasn't really the fluffable sort. She should have been pissed, and made a half-hearted effort to try but…

Damn, that kid was cute!

"I am not being thoughtful, brat, I just don't want you twerps getting at my good booze!" Evangeline, Negi's master and self-proclaimed most evil mage cried from where she was having a drink and reading The Dresden Files. "And stop making a mess in my resort! You're lucky I'm letting you people use it at all! My resort is not a convalescence wing!"

Black Reaper sighed and pulled Green Lantern out from behind the bushes she'd dived into at the sound of Evangeline's voice. "Honestly Green Lantern-chan, you're braver than this," Reaper said, sounding amused.

"Evangeline-sama is scary," Green Lantern murmured, shuddering.

"Everyone please note that the only other person Green Lantern-chan calls 'sama' is Superman," Ferret Lantern pointed out dryly.

"Hey!" Eternal Sailor Moon protested. "I get called 'sama' too!"

"That's just convention," Sailor Mars pointed out. "People who've met you personally feel no inclination to say it."

"AHEM!" Haruna said, faking a cough. "I hereby call this meeting of the United Magical Girl's Association to order!"

"But Kaleido Ruby and her friends aren't here yet," Green Lantern pointed out.

"They're busy," Chisame said. "Something about Invaders and having a long day."

Negi, the Senshi, Green Lantern, and some of the more mercenary types winced.

"First order of business!" Haruna cried. "BOYS! Specifically, how to get some!"

"YEAH!" most of the Inner Senshi and Ala Alba cried.

"Eh? Can't we have chairs with our logos on them first?" Eternal Sailor Moon asked.

Green Lantern blinked in confusion. "What do boys have to do with being Magical Girls? I've always been unsure about that point."

"Ask your mother!" Reaper said.

"Oh, come on! Why does everyone keep telling me that!"

Ferret Lantern leaned toward Masked Striker Fang and Magus Erebus. "So, wanna go watch something that isn't pink and sparkly?"

"Kami, YES!" Kotaro said.

"Sure," Negi said.

"Wait for me," Tuxedo Mask said.

They ditched. No one really noticed.

"We MUST find this… eh? Why is this ermine's nose bleeding? Is he sick?"

"Is he looking up our skirts?"

"CHAMO!" *_KICK!_*

"_I regret nothing…!"_

"Perverted Ermine!"

...

The following day, sometime after sunrise, two brilliant bursts of light, the first green, the second blue, flashed in Japan, visible from space, and causing all sorts of hell to be let loose.

...

On her way to school, listening to the buzzing of her classmates as they talked about the news of the green and blue bursts of light, Fate Testarossa felt a chill, and frowned, unsure why. The bus passed a little girl eating ice-cream, her green dress and golden hair shining…

Next to Fate, Nanoha was staring blankly at nothing, in telepathic ring-contact with Yuuno. Her fingers tapped rapidly on her bag, obviously agitated.

_What did he find?_ Fate asked telepathically.

Nanoha nearly jerked, surprised, but settled down. _They killed someone this time, Fate-chan, _Nanoha sent. _Someone named 'Archer'. He was one of Illya-chan's new friends. _Her face became a mask of sadness and determination. _This is officially a murder investigation now. _

...

Shamal sighed as she waited at home, preparing food, for lunch and to bring to Hayate. The others were likely to return soon, and it disturbed her how much she seemed to dread that. She shouldn't have. These were her friends, and sometimes friends with benefits, the only people she'd been able to depend on for the last she-no-longer-knew hundreds of years. Butt hey way they'd been changing lately…

The back door opened, and she jumped as Signum let out a call of "Shamal?". She turned as the pink-haired knight strode into the kitchen, stopping dead when she saw the blonde. There seemed to be an energy about the pink knight, and Shamal couldn't tell what it was. She was no longer wearing her knight armor, a marked contrast from the last couple of days when she'd wear nothing _but_ the black-and-red monstrosity she had turned beloved Hayate's lovingly crafted design into. And…

Shamal started. There were tears in Signum's eyes, and her gaze seemed lost.

The pink knight slowly began to walk towards her, like Shamal as an animal she didn't want to startle. Despite the week she'd been having, Shamal gathered up her courage and said, "Signum? Are you all right? What's wrong?"

Signum stared at that, the tears beginning to trickle down her cheeks as she smiled. "You… after the way we've been treating you, you can still worry about me?" She sniffed.

Then the tears began to flow in earnest as Signum fell to her knees, and Shamal found herself instinctively rushing to the other knight's side, putting her arms around her in a desire to comfort her friend, even though she didn't know what was wrong. Signum clung to her, and for a long time, the only words Shamal could make out were "I'm sorry," repeated over and over again as Signum held Shamal. Shamal realized Vita had joined them at some point, the hardest of the knights openly weeping as she hugged the two taller women, and then Zafira was their, in Beast form, giving what comfort he could even as he too seemed to weep. He had never be one for public emotional displays in humanoid form.

"I'm sorry for using you," Signum said as she held Shamal tight. "Something… something had come over me, affecting my mind, all our minds… I'm sorry."

The four knights lay there in a heap, the Book of Darkness hovering over them, seemingly neither spectator and participant. Eventually, Vita began to snore, and Zafira gently pulled her away, taking her to her bed, what had until so recently also been Hayate's bed.

"Tell me what happened," Shamal said, strokinghte other woman's hair comfortingly.

Signum did, the words coming out haphazardly, sometimes in a rush, sometimes in a concise report that was usually her way, sometimes in broken fragments. She told Shamal of what Archer had said, of how they'd been infected by some evil. Of his gift. Of other things. Shamal wasn't sure what to make of it all.

"I'll… if what you say is true, I'll need to examine the Book again," Shamal said. "See if anything like that remains."

Signum smiled, a watery smile. She really was in shock. "So thoughtful… But first there's something I need to do." Shamal frowned, then gave a squeal as Signum lifted her off her feet and began walking. "I need to pay you back," Signum said. "For the last few days." She reached their room.

What followed was the best sex of Shamal's life.

Later, they would examine things. Later, when Vita woke up, they would go see Hayate, and remind themselves of why they were doing this. Later, they would worry about what would happen. But for now, Shamal basked.

In the kitchen, still hovering, the faintest of red lines glowed along the designs on the cover of the Book Of Darkness…

...

In Uminari City, a bomb in the middle of the Elementary School's Athletic Field exploded at about eleven o'clock.

As classes were cancelled, and students ran about in fear and confusion, as cars with parents and concerned or curious people from nearby places started flocking to the area, as Green Lantern arrived on the scene, Tsukino Usagi the Second casually walked away, just another face in the crowd…

...

At the Mahora Academy Middle School building, several potted plants suddenly exploding, spewing out variously colored mists. As the building was being evacuated, Chao Lingshen smiled to herself, disposing of the detonator, which would melt in a few minutes anyway, and activated her disguise, becoming just another face in the crowd. It was eleven o'clock.

...

**- To be continued...**

...

A/N: Friends with benefits. After all, you see only the same faces for who knows how long, the only ones you trust, and…

I am now writing by the seat of my pants. The next FATE update, 14, continues the events that happen here. Directly continues, I mean. Or maybe I write the stuff Nanoha does here, and leave the stuff the Fate-crew does in the other. Not sure yet. I'll resolve it during writing. I apologize for the choppy structure.

Please review, C&C welcome.

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	20. All Together Now

A/N: This interweaves a LOT with Chapter 14 of Fate/Holy Grail War of 2814. Some things that are only touched on here are expounded more fully there. Yes, I acknowledge it's a shameless plugging device.

You know, this fic really needs a character sheet…

...

Takamachi Nanoha of 2814

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 20: The Battle For Fuyuki, Part 1: All Together Now

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story. If I did… well, this would all be canon. WARNING: MAY CAUSE HEAD EXPLOSION!

...

In Juuban, a monster had attacked the high school.

Again.

Lightning, ice, ambiguous heart-shaped attacks, and lots of confusion had, of course, ensued.

There wasn't any property damage, though school was cancelled yet again. Normally, this wouldn't be the case, since the schools in the Juuban area tended to be a bit blasé about monster attacks– and with good reason. After all, there'd been like about a million of them so far– but recently the Ministry of Education had been cracking down on the area to enforce the Emergency Forces Of Evil Attack Laws, and the schools had grudgingly let the students go. It wouldn't last, maybe another week or two, but for the moment, students were celebrating their good fortune.

The Sailor Senshi in civilian garb, meanwhile, tried to figure out what the monster that had looked suspiciously like a robot made from a train-car-cum-food-cart had been about and where had it suspiciously gone when it had caused enough damage to conveniently get the students out of school. As Ami, Minako, Usagi, Makoto, Michiru, Haruka, a melancholy Setsuna and a watchful (against alcohol) Hotaru sat around in booth at the ice-cream store, Rei walked in– well, stomped, really–and slammed herself down on one of the empty benches as the others stared.

"Rei?" Ami said in surprise. "What are you doing here? Don't you still have class?"

"It was cancelled," Rei said, grumbling. "You wouldn't _believe_ what happened!"

"Is it any worse than a restaurant train-turned Bayformer attacking the school?" Makoto asked, smiling slightly.

Rei blinked. "How the heck did you know that's what happened?"

The door opened and a tired-looking Mamoru walked in. The girls hastily moved a little to make room for him in the crowded booth, but he just took a seat in the next booth over next to Usagi. "Hey, Usa-ko," he said tiredly.

The others, chagrined settled back down, some moving to sit with him.

"Rough day at the office?" Haruka asked good-naturedly.

"Weird Bayformer Meat-bun youma," he muttered, sighing. "I don't want to talk about it…"

The Senshi blinked. "Whoa, there's a lot of that going around, isn't there?" Makoto said.

Mamoru frowned. "What do you mean?"

She held up her cell phone. "A friend of mine from the tournament circuits just texted me that a lot of schools in the city have been closed down because of a spate of attacks. They all sound like they're by the same thing."

The others grew concerned. "Shouldn't we do something?" Usagi said.

At that moment, the Mercury Computer beeped…

...

With the school evacuated and with no structural damage being inflicted except maybe to some eardrums and windows, there really wasn't much for Green Lantern to do. Sure, she could look around for evidence and such, but this was really a case better suited for the bomb squad, and she really didn't want to step on anyone's toes. People were, of course, already saying this was the work of terrorists, though Green Lantern kind of doubted that. For one thing, terrorists seldom left around giant banners proclaiming, "Nah Nah, Fooled You!"

The students weren't so concerned about the explosion though. For one thing, no one got hurt, so what was so interesting about it? And for another, school for the rest of the day had been called off, which had more than one student, inappropriately as some adults thought, glad for what had happened.

"Honestly!" Alisa cried. "The things people will do! Someone could have been seriously hurt by that thing!"

"Magical Girl Black Reaper-chan didn't show up!" Suzuka said sadly, causing Fate to strongly quash the urge to look around and whistle innocently. "Eh, I really wanted to get her autograph!" More whistle-quashing commenced.

"I'm back!" Nanoha called, panting as she ran up to them from the direction of the toilets. "Sorry it took so long, but there was a long line! What did I miss?"

Alisa sighed at Nanoha's lack of delicacy as Suzuka raved about how Green Lantern had shown up and had been all 'cool' and 'awesome'.

"EH!" Nanoha cried, looking absolutely downcast. Fate thought she was overdoing it. "I missed the opportunity to see Green Lantern-chan _again?_ Why is it that my luck is such that I'm always somewhere else when she shows up?-!"

_Okay, now you're just being a large ham, _Fate shot at Nanoha telepathically. _Thank goodness saving the world doesn't rely on your acting skills._

_Eh, Fate-chan? _Nanoha sent, and although her face didn't change Fate could imagine the pout the other girl wanted to send her. _That's mean!_

Fate's new phone rang before she could respond, and she hastily pulled it up, no longer fumbling with the controls as she first had. "Hello?"

"_Fate-chan!_" Amy's voice said from the other end as the three with Fate quieted down to let her listen. "_Thank goodness you're all right! We just saw the news on TV! Was anyone hurt? _"

"We're all fine, Amy-chan," Fate said. "It looks like it might have been a prank for some reason, but they cancelled school anyway."

"_Eh?_" Amy said. "_Well, that's awfully convenient for you._"

Fate frowned. "What do you mean?"

"_That communication's program that the Sailor Senshi gave you is ringing,_" Amy said. "_It looks like there's some kind of emergency._"

...

Ala Alba had regrouped at the empty field near the world tree after the blast. With school cancelled for the day while people investigated– and more importantly for some, before any homework could be issued– they had time to kill, even Negi, who really wasn't much good at this investigating thing, so to speak. They really didn't feel like hanging out at Evangeline's Resort just yet, more inclined to just laze around and let time fly by. This being Ala Alba, lazing around meant Asuna and Setsuna doing some light fencing, Ku reiterating how _she_ was properly Negi's Martial Arts instructor, Maki doing some stretched and stuff, and Kotaro and Kaede had a light spar, which to some people looked like an intense duel, but for them was barely more strenuous than playing Rock-Paper-Scissors. The Library Crew were nearby, Konoka included, chatting about their latest books while Haruna lazily drew on her Artifact, idly thinking of what making World Tree Maple Syrup might be like and summoning small, cute, minor golems such as thumb-sized versions of their classmates purely for the heck of it, like a strangely belligerent Natsumi wielding a leak, or a Nodoka cosplaying as Vincent Valentine. Ako, Akira, and Yuuna were sitting by Chisame and Chachamaru, the three chatting while Chachamaru prepared a small picnic and Chisame evilly used her as an internet hook-up for her computer as she did unknowable, arcane things with the help of her sprites. Sayo and even Asakura were getting in on the idyllic-ity, the latter taking unobtrusive pictures of the lazy day, between some rather good close up shots of some butterflies and a napping Chamo, who actually looked pretty cute when he wasn't conscious and lecherous. You could practically _hear_ the sigh of contentment.

"AGH, I'M SO BORED!" Haruna cried. "_Everything's so __**normal**__!_ If there are any aliens, time-travelers, sliders, or espers here, COME OUT SO THINGS CAN GET INTERESTING!"

"Saotome, your name is Haru_na,_ not Haru_hi_," Chisame said, annoyed as she reclined back. "Not every day has to be a life and death adventure that's filled with epic battles against the forces of evil that in a Manga would take 40-plus chapters to conclude. Normal days are good."

"Blasphemy!" Haruna declared. "And you're one to talk!"

Chisame frowned. "And what is that supposed to mean? I'm the sanest, most normal person here."

"Says the girl with six robot maids fawning over her!" Haruna declared.

Chisame shrugged, leaning back against the blonde gynoid she'd positioned behind her. "Spoils of war," she said, though a trifle smugly. "It's not like there weren't a ton of them lying around. And they don't mind, right girls?"

"That is so, Calculator-sama," the one Chisame was leaning against, one of the blonde units she'd renamed 'Chitose', said.

Haruna sighed loudly, and went back to doodling on her Artifact.

Chisame's computer beeped a notice. Lazily, she opened it, and swore. "Oh, not today! Come on!"

"Ooh, ooh, what is it?" Haruna said, instantly on Chisame like a rash. "Aliens? Time-travelers? Sliders, espers? A raunchy email with nude pictures of Superman? Come on Chisame, spill!"

Chisame growled and shoved the mangaka away. "It's the Magical Girl group thing," she said, turning it on.

"Hey!" Haruna declared. "Don't you go calling my beautiful creation 'the Magical Girl group thing'! It's the United Magical Girl Association! Got it memorized?"

"Oh, shut up and sketch me some kind of speaker things!" Chisame snapped.

...

They'd had to end the visit to Hayate. They hadn't wanted to, and Vita had nearly raised a big stink when the nurse had made them leave, but there'd been a bomb at a local school, apparently, and the hospital had gone on alert, just in case.

Still, it was enjoyable. Vita had nearly lost control when she saw Hayate, nearly glomping the girl before Signum reigned her back and admonished her for nearly hurting Hayate. Hayate had respond by glomping Vita in turn, rubbing her cheek against the other girl's and exclaiming how glad she was to see them. Time seemed to run past like a monkey on crack as they spent time together, until reality cruelly stuck its nose in and announced the Hospital was ending visiting hours early because of an emergency. Still, they'd enjoyed their time together, knowing that one way or another it would all end soon…

...

Nanoha called her parents to reassure them as she and the others rushed to the Harlaown apartment, flicking her phone shut by the time they reached the balcony. They all rushed in, where Amy was looking up at a large holographic display which basically consisted of a sign-in page. Quickly, Nanoha stepped forward and typed in the passwords, impatient as the relatively slow protocols connected. Finally, the screen displayed resolved into three icons, a stylized solar system icon, a white wing, and an abstract of swirls and curves that vaguely resembled a cup.

"-_o need to yell,_" Illya's scratchy voice said over the now open connection.

"Green Lantern, Ferret Lantern, Black Reaper, Tempus and, um, Familiar Girl here!" Nanoha said as the others gathered around her. "What's the problem, Kaleido Ruby-chan?"

"Familiar Girl?" Arf said. "That's the best you can come up with? Come on, throw me a bone here! At least call something cool like, I don't know, Sexy Crimson Fang!"

"Hey!" Chrono protested. "Don't you lump me in there with you crazy Earth people! I'm not a member of your little club!"

Nanoha turned to look at him, pouting. "Eh, Tempus-kun?" she said. "Don't you like hanging out with us?"

"Hey, no fair!" Yuuno protested . "How come she gets a cool name and I'm still stuck with 'Ferret Lantern'?"

"Tempus," Amy cried out, grinning and wagging an admonishing finger. "Be nice!"

"Amy!"

...

Ami sighed as the others all crowded in around her, mere concepts such as 'personal space' and 'elbow room' apparently irrelevant as they tried to get a view of the Mercury Computer's screen. "Guys, really I'm getting kind of claustrophobic," she said as she signed in.

The others shifted as Green Lantern's group made their presence known. This shifting did absolutely nothing but redistribute the elbows to tender-spots ratio as Mercury sighed again, wondering how hard it would be to reroute all this through their communicators. Come to think of it, when _was_ he last time they'd used those things? It would have been _so_ convenient to remember the last umpity billion times. And whatever happened to the disguise pens…?

Haruka chuckled as the byplay drifted over the computer's small speakers. "Ah, such a familiar tune," she said, casually wrapping an arm around Michiru, who giggled. Encouraged, Haruka reached a bit lower and…

"Haruka-papa, please stop pinching my butt," Hotaru said, causing Haruka to redden and hastily withdraw her hand from the press.

Ami sighed. "I'll have to develop a voice identification program of some sort, to distinguish people on mass-conference calls," she said, already thinking of the coding that could take as Michiru wagged an admonishing finger at Haruka and Hotaru muttered something about needing an ice-pack.

...

Chisame sniffed as the others crowded around her, and her robot maids barely managed to keep Chisame's personal space and elbow room intact. Chachamaru had calmly unfolded a satellite dish to provide better reception. It sprouted from her head like some kind of disproportionate blossom. "It's because of all these amateurs thinking this is all some kind of Star Trek thing," she voice said. "Honestly, they make everything so much more difficult."

"Eh," Makie said. "Don't be like that Chi–"

"THAT'S **CALCULATOR!**" Chisame declared, glaring. "Not… the other thing, CALCULATOR!"

"You're calling yourself a pocket electronic device?" Asuna said dryly.

"Quiet, Red," Calculator's voice said, aggravated. "Well, we're here. What's the problem?"

"_We have an emergency!" _Kaleido Ruby's voice cried._ "At about noon today, the forces of evil are going to attack our town!"_

...

There was the crackling static of relative silence. In the interim, Nanoha sighed, already composing the paperwork in her head. Let's see, there would be the copy for the municipal government… and then duplicate… and then the copy for the National Office for the Deputization of Freelance Law-Enforcers, Magical Girls Division…

"Really?" Fate said, blinking in surprise as Nanoha began drawing out the forms from memory. "Wow. It sure is convenient our school got hit by a bogus bomb threat that cancelled class."

Yuuno stared at Nanoha, out of range of the microphone. "Can you not do that? I'm getting writer's cramp just looking at you."

Nanoha frowned. "Honestly, why do people make such a fuss about paperwork? It's only a little writing," she said as she began to arrange the 50-plus sheets, not counting duplicates and triplicates.

Chrono and Amy, watching her, shuddered.

...

"You too?" Konoka said. "Someone at our school set off a lot of smoke bombs! Classes are cancelled until they can get things cleaned up." Makie and Yuuna did a happy dance at these words, still not over getting a free afternoon.

"_Huh, that's so weird,_" Sailor Venus's voice said. "_Our school got attacked by these weird looking robot youma that looked like a Bayformer and called itself 'Meat-bun Supreme'._"

There was silence. Chisame grew still as her maids and electron sprites eyed her warily. As the began to twitch and shudder, the leaned away slightly.

"'Meat-Bun Supreme'?" Chisame said, one eyebrow twitching. "Are you sure about that?"

"_Pretty sure,_" Sailor Jupiter's voice said. "_It kept yelling about how it was going to destroy us all, then would segway into commercials about how nice Ibayamia was this time of year and advertise some restaurant called Chao Bao Zhi._"

Everyone's eyes widened as Asuna and Chisame's gazes met. Rapid-fire understanding was exchanged, and flames seemed to appear in Asuna's eyes as she understood the full import of what was said.

"**THAT TIME-TRAVELING BITCH!**" Asuna yelled as Setsuna hastily slapped her hands over Negi's ears.

...

"Hey!" Setsuna snapped, glaring at the general direction of Ami's computer, her usual depression and slight withdrawal disappearing at this seeming affront to her office. "I take offense at that!"

"I don't think she was talking about you, Pluto," Michiru said gently.

Hotaru sighed. "Michiru-mama, can you switch places with me? Haruka-papa's hand's getting lost again, and my butt really hurts."

Haruka's face flushed and she quickly pulled back her arm, holding it behind her head as everyone looked at her. She laughed nervously. "Um, I'll behave now…"

...

"**Stupid Chao Lingshen!**" Asuna continued to rage. "**This is all her fault again somehow, I just know it! First there were all those robots during the Wolkenritter attack on Mahora, and now THIS? What the hell is that girl up to?-! ARGH!-!-!**"

"_Excuse me!_" Kaleido Ruby's voice interrupted loudly. _"Imminent attack of the forces of evil here_!"

There was an embarrassed silence.

"Sorry, go on," Asuna said meekly.

...

"_This morning, we got a DVD from a teammate of ours who died recently_," Kaleido Ruby said, murmuring rising from the other connections. "_Just this morning, in fact, only a few hours before we got the DVD._"

Nanoha's eyes went wide "Archer-san?" she said, surprised.

"_Yes_," Kaleido Ruby said. "_We don't know how but he somehow _knew_ that everything would turn out like this! He, uh, mentions that the Wolkenritter didn't kill him, Green Lantern-chan. He mentions it specifically on his message. It's dated several days ago, but all the stuff he mentioned in it happened. And he says that around noon today, someone is going to try to activate every Invader in Fuyuki_."

Nanoha had barely begun to sigh in relief that this was not, technically a murder investigation, when her breath caught in her throat.

"_WHAT?-!_" she cried, and she wasn't the only one.

...

"_Shimatta!_" Setsuna swore under her breath, very carefully making sure Negi's ears were still covered.

"_Um_," a voice from Fuyuki said._ "I know I should probably know this, but what's an Invader?_"

Another voice agreed. "_Not a stupid question. I don't know what that is either. Archer called them pure evil, but that's not very helpful…_"

"Evil is essentially what they are," Setsuna said grimly. "They are basically anthropomorphic personifications of human evil. Our greed, malice, pettiness and cruelty given form. Some reproduce by dividing, while others… others can **turn** people into beings like themselves, by physically reaching into a person and pulling out the evil inside them, making it fester and grow like a cancer, until it consumes the person and becomes it's own being…"

There was silence. Everyone stared at Setsuna, and she felt her face start to flush bright red as she realized what she'd just said. She looked around beseechingly, but no one was any help. Kaede, damn her, was wearing a kind of smug, "My, aren't _we_ talented," smile. Then…

"Kyaaaa, AngelGARd-chan!" Konoka squealed, pouncing on her. "That was so poetic!"

"O-ojou-sama…!" Setsuna stuttered.

Chisame sighed. "Way to ruin the mood, girl…"

You could _hear_ the blink over the connection. "_AngelGARd?" _Kaleido Ruby asked. _"As in, '__**In Celebration of–'**_"

"AHH! PLEASE DON'T FINISH THAT SENTENCE!" Setsuna cried.

"I wonder what you'll call a more powerful technique?" Haruna said, grinning amidst laughter and other teasing. "Perhaps, 'In Celebration Of the First Time I Fu–'!"

Asuna slapped a hand over her mouth. "Don't you _DARE_ finish that sentence."

"_Evil?_" Kaleido Ruby reminded them.

"_You know, in manga and stuff, when someone is rallying the cavalry, they never get sidetracked like this," _a voice they recognized as Kuro said._ "I mean, if this was some kind of shounen fighting manga, we'd have the entire situation already explained, with no interruptions, and a counterattack planned out, all too great illustrations that fit the mood_."

There was silence over the line as everyone looked at Haruna.

"What? I'm not running this briefing," she said.

Kaleido Ruby sighed. "_Tick tock? This is the situation…The Invaders plan to use Wayne Enterprises Tower as a transmitter to activate all the Invaders in the city during rush hour. They're then going to try and kill as many people as possible to increase the spiritual energy of the area while at the same time trying to gain control of certain key points. One is an address in the residential area, another is an empty field, and a third is a church. They will also try to take over the Temple in Mount Enzou. Our counterattack is simple. We protect Wayne Tower to lessen the number of invaders they can activate, keep them from gaining control of those four other locations, and prevent them from killing people!_"

...

In the Harlaown apartment, the children all stared at the monitor grimly.

"_Th-that's… that's monstrous!_" Sailor Mars said.

"_Are you serious?-!_" Calculator cried.

"Ah. A code 77348," Nanoha said levelly, though her voice was no less appalled. "'Activation of sleeper agents leading to seizure of control of key tactical locations in order to facilitate wide-spread mass-slaughter'. It's practically a textbook case."

Everyone in the room blinked, staring at her.

"It actually says that in the codebook?" Yuuno asked, frowning as he fired up his ring to check.

"Eh? Of course it does! Haven't you been reading the code book?"

"I had to stop somewhere around code 16887," Yuuno said, shuddering.

Nanoha frowned. "'Illegal disposal of a disposable pre-packaged beverage vessel by attempted forced ingestion into an endangered species of carnivorous luminescent crystal fungus'? That means you've barely started!"

They stared at her again, Amy and Chrono edging slightly away. "You scare me, Green Lantern," he said.

...

As this was going on, the background of the Mercury Computer shifted, and a map window suddenly appeared, along with a small window of icons. "_Show us where,_" Calculator said.

"_EH?_" Kaleido Ruby cried. "_How did you do that? I thought messaging was the only thing that was on here?-!_"

"_I wrote an update while you were all talking,_" Calculator said dismissively.

Ami's eyebrow twitched, ever so slightly. "Impressive," she said, sounding somewhat cool. The others eyed her nervously.

"_I'm the greatest hacker on the planet. It was easy. The locations, Kaleido Ruby?_"

Ami's eyebrows snapped upward, her mouth opening and closing silently as the map display changed, becoming marked.

"Ami-chan," Makoto said soothingly. "Calm down…"

"_Looks like we'll have to split up,_" Green Lantern said. "_My friends and I will take charge of roaming the city preventing civilian casualties. We have flight capability, not to mention more precise scanning magic. We don't have much time. If what you say is right, they'll start soon._"

Shakily, Ami swallowed, regaining her composure. "We can teleport ourselves there to the city proper, though we'll need help getting into position," she said.

Usagi blinked. "We can?" she said.

"Sure, we have the Teleport, remember? You know, the one where we all hold hands? We once used it to get to an asteroid full of evil life-sucking flowers about to fall on the earth and end all life as we know it?" Rei prompted. "You know, from that time Tuxedo Kamen's ex-boyfriend showed up?"

"FIORE WAS JUST A FRIEND! JUST A FRIEND, DARN IT!" Mamoru said, aggrieved.

"Shh, keep it down!" Haruka hissed as people began to cast curiously looks their way.

"Damn, when was the last time we used that?" Makoto wondered.

"Well, there was that time we broke into Saturn's house…" Minako said, trailing off. "Wow, we stopped using that a long time ago, didn't we?"

"Was that the time I beat the youma in a Dark Game of Old Maid?" Hotaru asked.

Mamoru sighed, shaking his head and resting his eyes on his fingertips. "Our lives are so screwed up," he said.

...

"_We'll pick Ala Alba up and get everyone into position,_" Green Lantern said. "_Green Lantern out._"

The connection cut off. Ala Alba all looked at each other grimly, when they weren't grinning at each other in excitement. Chisame's head drooped. After all this time, she was still technically right: all her classmates were idiots. And what was that sound? It was a kind of whistling that was getting louder…

"We'll be there too, I suppose_,_" Chisame said, sighing. "Ala Alba ou–OOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWW HOLY SHIT!"

Everyone cried out as a ten-foot tall– at least– robot landed in their midst. Its body seemed primarily composed of pylons, pistons and other long pieces of metal that came together to make an articulated body. It loomed like a gorilla, its legs short and stumpy compared to its arms, it upper body slim at the waist and wide at the shoulders. It even stood like one, though as they watched it straitened, knuckles lifting off the ground as it stood up straight. Then, with a sound like someone blowing in and out through their teeth, it began to reconfigure as they scattered back from it, metal, wood-finished metal and other things folding, tucking away, elongating, integrating and reintegrating, until it had turned back into a recognizable train car, one side open in a counter, some stools even then sliding back under some outer side panels.

"_What?-!_" Kaleido Ruby asked, on top of the chatter from the Senshi.

A few moments later, a panting and annoyed Chisame said, "We've found Meat-Bun Supreme," and hung up.

Even as they watched, magical sigils suddenly appeared, on counter tops, inside recessed shelves, and similar storage spaces, and a moment later, napkin holders, utensils, plates, bottles and other sundries appeared out of where ever they'd been stored, completing the look.

"I guess someone better tell Satsuki we've found her train car," Negi said, blinking.

Chisame began to growl as she stomped forward, snatching off an envelope that had been taped conspicuously to the front windshield. It had the words, "Open me," written in front. Chisame angrily tore it open.

"Well?" Haruna asked eagerly as Chisame stared at the contents. "What is it? Winning lotto numbers from the future? All the sports stats for the next fifty years? Another copy of Chao's family tree? A DVD containing a video message that knows what we're about to say?"

"It's a pamphlet," Chisame said flatly, drawing out a brightly colored sheet of thin paper.

"With winning lotto numbers?" Haruna pressed.

"Why are you assuming this is from Chao?" Chisame said, not looking away from the pamphlet she was scanning. "There could be an explanation as to why this thing– " she jerked her head sideways at the now dormant-looking train car "– when nuts on schools in Tokyo that just happened to be where the Senshi seemed to be attending just in time to get classes canceled so they could help stop the forces of evil that doesn't involve Chao."

The wind blew mournfully through the sudden silence.

"Ye-ah, no one here believes that, Chisame-chan." Kazumi said.

Chisame sighed. "Yes, it would have been nice," she said, handing them the pamphlet. It was kinda worn, wrinkled slightly as if it had been handled carelessly. Bright, almost luminescent pink ink had been used to encircle a small portion that would otherwise have been ignored. It was the printing and other technical information, with the date of printing three years from now. Trouble was, it was three years in the wrong direction.

"This safety leaflet bought to you in cooperation with the Mahora Academy Safety Committee, the Yukihiro Conglomerate, the Banning Group, Tsukimura Industries, the Daidouji Toy Company, the Piffle Princess Corporation, AEGIS Security, the Wayne Foundation, the Ibayamian Embassy, the United Nations Security Council and the Justice League. Let's all do our part to fight the forces of evil," Asuna read out loud.

Next to it, in the same pink ink were the words "_Still single, ancestor?_", a smiley face with hair buns, and a drawing of a pocket watch. The watch had a crack on it.

"_Chao,_" Asuna growled.

"Check the rest," Chisame said quietly.

Asuna looked up and blinked. "What the hell?" she demanded, staring at the picture with small identifying labels next to all the participants. Everyone else stopped looking at the pink in and reacted similarly.

"That's us!" Makie said.

And it was. Some of the names and outfit was different– the girl that was recognizable as Asuna because of her sword was labeled 'Twilight Red' and was wearing armor similar to what she'd worn during the school festival, for example– but it was definitely them. The picture, torn in places along the edge, was of a chaotic battle scene with Asuna, Setsuna and Kaede charging forward to attack a huge black inky creature whose helpful label said it was "Brushogun: example of the forces of evil" while Negi prepared a spell, crouched low on the ground, his claws tearing at the cement while his tail wrapped protectively around his legs. The others were in similar attack poses. Ako stared at a picture of herself holding one of Yue's Souken and apparently charging in as recklessly as the rest.

"Hey, who's that?" Yuuna asked, pointing to a figure in the background who was apparently fighting by Kotaro's side, wearing a dark hooded cloak and body suit with pouches and such hanging off it. "'Spoiler'? Do we know anyone by that name?"

"Maybe it's Ayaka," Asuna grumbled. "She'd spoil anything."

"I believe we need to continue this another time," Kaede said, staring at the sky. "Green Lantern-chan is here."

...

"Fuyuki City," Setsuna said grimly as she stood, arms crossed, staring at the distant but incoming speck. "It's been a long time…"

Everyone blinked at her, surprised by the unusually grim, practically belligerent tone of her voice. "Set-chan?" Konoka said, adjusting her mask as the slightly green-tinted scenery flew by, Green Lantern trying to get them there quickly while not leaving a sonic boom. "Have you been here before?"

Setsuna jerked her head abruptly, a movement that bought all sorts of pre-Kyoto Setsuna flashbacks to Konoka she was almost depressed. "Once. I'd rather not talk about it."

Everyone one exchanged glances, and gave shrug of consensus, except for Ferret Lantern, who was seated at a construct school desk and was currently going through the Green Lantern Code Book, under Green Lantern's watchful gaze and to Tempus' amusement. "Well, if that's how you feel, AngelGARd-san…" Black Reaper-chan said as she checked her speed-loaders and wiped Bardiche's head with her cape.

"It was two years ago," Setsuna continued, not seeming to have heard. "I was just a girl then, so simple, so naïve. As a part of my training, Eishun-sama had given me permission to join that year's Underground Kendo Tournament. Fresh from the Shinmeiryu's own in-house tournament that year, I would represent the Shinmeiryu against several other schools and individual styles. The Strawberry Ghost School, Anything Goes Sword Arts, the Zanbatou Enthusiasts Society… I would face them all, carrying the honor of the Shinmeiryu…"

Chisame stared, blinking. "Is she _monologing?_" she said, sounding almost aghast.

"Sounds like it," Yue said, drinking from a tall bottle of TANTRUM!. "It's no Shakespeare, though."

"I was nervous, unsure that I would be able to live up to the honor of upholding the name of the Shinmeiryu," Setsuna went on, oblivious. "The Tournament was being held in Mount Enzou, where the wind is fresh, civilians are far, and the monks are discreet and have exclusive video distribution rights–"

"Video distribution rights?" Asuna said, confused.

"– to the tournament. The crowds were filled by those who knew of these things: some officials from Public Safety Division 4, members of the rich and bored, the infamous Heiress of the Daidouji Corporation, members of Black Ops divisions. Rumor even said that representatives from the League of Assassins were in the crowd, there to scout for new blood or traitors. All had come to watch the power of the sword. The day before the tournament began I was nervous, and Tsuruko-sama suggested that I see the city to distract myself and relax. Yet I hadn't even gotten to the stairs leading down from the mountain when I met… _her_."

Later, Haruna would _swear_ that she saw Konoka's ears twitch at this. "'Her'? 'Her' who?" Konoka asked.

"When I saw her, I knew instantly she was trouble," Setsuna jabbered on, lost in her own little world. "She was tall, with breasts the size of cantaloupes–" several people began choking simultaneously, not sure if they'd heard Setsuna actually _say_ this "– long, dark hair, and eyes the color of grape Kool-Aid. She was from Noihara, technically representing the Amakawa clan of Demon Slayers. I will never forget her… Noihara Himari…"

There was a growling sound and it took everyone a moment to realize it was actually coming from Setsuna.

"_**ROT IN HELL, YOU CHEATING CAT!**_" she exploded, shaking Yunagi and her fist in the air as everyone jerked back and fell over in surprise. "_**CHOKE ON YOUR OWN HAIRBALLS, YOU LARGE-BREASTED BOOB MONSTER! I HOPE YOU COME DOWN WITH EXPLOSIVE DIARRHEA AND YOUR NIPPLES FALL OFF!**_"

"Is it just me, or does Setsuna seem oddly obsessed with this girl's breasts?" Haruna commented, grinning.

Green Lantern blinked, looking down at her chest. "Can your nipples _really_ fall off?"

"Ask your mother," Ferret Lantern said, practically by rote.

Green Lantern sighed.

...

Chamo woke up and blinked. "Hey! Where did everybody go?"

...

It had been quite some time since the Senshi had used the teleport. It showed. For example, they'd forgotten that they'd always had a bit of trouble when it came to aiming for their destination. Actually _getting_ there had never been a problem… but vertical orientation had usually been. They'd also forgotten that fact that sometimes their teleport didn't act so much like an instantaneous transport from point to point without traversing the space between physically as a kind of flight where they all needed to hold hands and steer.

And that's how they all ended upside-down in the branches of a tree, holding hands.

"You know, it occurs to me we might be a little out of practice with this…" Sailor Mercury said.

"YA THINK?-!" Sailor Mars, Jupiter and Venus cried.

"Hold still, Usa-ko," Tuxedo Kamen said, managing to get right side-up and drawing out his sword-cane. "Wait a moment…"

_*snicker-snackt snikt!*_

Branches fell away from Eternal Sailor Moon, who sighed in relief… only to scream as she realized this was a bad idea according to the laws of gravity. Smoothly, Tuxedo Kamen kicked off, catching her well before she hit the ground and landing lightly with her in his arms.

"Ahh, Mamoru-kun!" Eternal Sailor Moon gushed as she was set on her feet with a courtly bow.

The others twitched in annoyance.

"How come clumsy always gets saved in the nick of time?" Sailor Mars grumped.

"Why only her? _We _should get some hot guy to carry us around and save us in the nick of time too," Sailor Venus agreed.

"Yeah! We should get our own total hunks!" Sailor Jupiter said, pulling her leg free. "Someone like…"

"Magus Erebus?" Sailor Saturn suggested as she helped Sailor Pluto get her hair free.

They all sighed.

"Such erudition and intelligence," Sailor Mercury said.

"He's _**way**_ hotter than my old sempai," Sailor Jupiter said.

"Truly a gift from the gods," Sailor Mars agreed.

"He's hot," Sailor Venus said plainly.

"He's my age!" Sailor Saturn said, not so much an objection as her personal silver-lining.

"He has a stable, well-paying, respectable job," Sailor Pluto mused.

"Soft, feminine features…" Sailor Uranus sighed.

"A cute, pinchable butt," Sailor Neptune agreed.

The Inners blinked, staring at them.

"Hey, I thought you two were…!" Sailor Venus cried, then paused to consider her options.

"Lesbians!" Sailor Jupiter cried.

"In a relationship!" Sailor Mars put in.

"Perhaps we've been bi all this time?" Sailor Neptune suggested.

"We're adults, we can set up our own affairs," Sailor Uranus retorted.

"Crap!" Sailor Venus cried. "More competition!"

"Am I interrupting anything?" Tuxedo Kamen asked politely, leaning against the trunk of the tree and tapping his foot. He held out his cane-sword. "Should I come back some other time while you argue about a ten year-old boy?"

"Get us down from here," Sailor Mercury said. "Please?"

"I call dibs!" Sailor Saturn said. "I'm not letting you guys get the only half-way decent guy my age for yourselves!"

A train car landing on the ground some distance from the tree punctuated her statement.

...

Nanoha watched as the constructs she'd made to ferry the others to their destinations flew off, and waited for Magus Erebus and to have some last words with the girls who would wait at this field for the person Illya's friends were sending to help them defend it. He came back with what looked like four flying manta rays in tow.

"Compliments of Paru," he said to the so-called Outer Senshi.

"KIRA DEATH NOTE PARU-SAMA!" the girl cried.

"Kira Death Note Paru-sama," he corrected smoothly. "It's for transport. Here, let me show you how to use it…"

From what she could here, the directions seemed simple enough, but apparently the Senshi were having trouble. Sailor Saturn seemed to have a problem just _standing_ on the platform, and Erebus needed to stand behind her and hold her upright until she got the hang of it.

Finally Nanoha, exasperated, just put everyone on top of a giant green platform and floated them all up.

"All right," she said. "I suggest we split up into teams of two. I know that' will limit our deployment, but we'll need someone to watch our backs."

"Agreed," Sailor Uranus said. She'd finally seemed to have gotten control of her flying manta, standing on it and strapping a wrist-mounted control thing on. "These things can easily overwhelm you if you're not careful, and when they combine it's best to be able to attack the combiner from different points."

"Ah! Magus Erebus-kun, could you please stay with me?" Sailor Saturn said. "I'm not sure if I can stay on this manta ray. You'll catch me, right?"

"Oh, sure," Magus Erebus said, and Nanoha frowned as a peculiar grinding noise rose. "It's always been kind of hard to drive, these things. I don't understand why H– er, Kira Death Note Paru-sama didn't make a safer design."

Nanoha looked around. "Does anyone else here a grinding noise?" she asked Sailor Pluto.

"No," the older woman said, as the noise faded away.

Nanoha frowned. "I guess it was just my imagination…"

"Excuse me?" a new voice suddenly said, and everyone on the platform turned to see a purple-haired maigal girl wearing dark armor and mask, with a pairs of black wings at her back, apparently keeping her aloft. "I'm sorry I kept you all waiting. Nice to see you again, Green Lantern-chan."

"Oh, hello Reinforced-san," Nanoha said, waving. "We were just discussing how we were going to divide our forces in pairs."

"Well, we'll need to hurry," Reinforced said. She was frowning beneath her domino mask. "My cellphone's going nuts. I think they've already released the signal."

Nanoha checked her on cell phone, and frowned as the sky darkened slightly. "It's starting!"

Arf sniffed, growled and lunged at Sailor Saturn and Magus Erebus. "GET DOWN!" she cried, barreling into them, just as a vaguely humanoid, bat-winged creature flew through the space they'd been occupying.

Everyone snapped their gaze upward barely in time to see a swarm of creatures nearly on top of them in a full dive.

"Poot," was the last thing Nanoha was able to say before chaos erupted.

Magus Erebus rolled himself and Sailor Saturn off the platform, pulling a manta by the tail off with them as another creature dived at the spot, only to meet with Arf's claws. Fate, Yuuno, and Chrono had darted back, taking to the air, the other Green Lantern making laed magical and construct barriers to cover them along one side while Reinforced wove shadows to protect their other flank.

"_Dead Scream_…" Sailor Pluto whispered, casting her ball of energy into the sky as her companions followed suit, trying to get on their flying mantas and shoot at the same time. The flying things dodged, but the triple balls of energy still managed to clip some, though not to any significant damage.

"They're trying to occupy us!" Nanoha cried, cranking her energy aura to maximum as she dodged, sending Emerald Smashers at the things, each unsophisticated blast of emerald energy reducing an Invader to black dust and a falling blue crystal. "Keeping us contained so others can act!"

"It's working!" Sailor Uranus said. "We can barely steer these things!"

"I'll handle this!" Reinforced said, several spinning disks of energy appearing around her as a triangular sigil suddenly glowed beneath her feet. "Let me handle controlling the airspace! You make sure they don't hurt anyone!"

"You sure you can do that?" Magus Erebus cried as she helped Sailor Saturn stay on her manta ray, too busy helping her stay on to fight back herself.

"Trust me!" Reinforced said. She snapped out a hand sideways as dozens, scores, of spinning disks of brilliant white energy resolved themselves. "_Night Sky Tiara Action; Eternal Shift!_"

The innumerable spinning Frisbees of death shot out in all directions, cleaving through demonic flying Invaders even as they tried to dodge, and were unpleasantly surprised to realized the spinning disks could curve back to attack in repeating arcs.

"Go, go, go!" Reinforced cried.

"Ferret Lantern, go with Sailor Pluto!" Nanoha directed. "Tempus, Familiar Girl, go with Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus! Reaper-chan, with me!"

The platform faded away at they split up, streaking off in pairs as they left lines of light behind…

Sakura reinforced her eyes, scanning the city as she simultaneously ran an area scanning spell. "BRING IT ON, CREEPY PERVERT PRIEST!" she cried.

...

Bruce Wayne was having one of _those_ days.

A lesser man would have spent some time at his desk, massaging his forehead and muttering about the unfairness of the world. Not he!

No, _he_ did it while blowing up Invaders.

"So, _this_ is what you were doing all last night while I was stuck here doing homework like some kind of chump?" Robin said, thwacking the evil-executive-looking zombie-like being with his brand new extending bo-staff before Batman decapitated it with one of his enormous curved blades. "Fighting evil zombie office workers?"

Lesser men would also be cannon fodder after having spent most of the night awake fighting a giant robot and having only gotten two hours sleep that morning. Batman, unlike these lesser men, was just cranky. "Just get to work," he snapped.

The building was fortunately evacuated, it coincidentally being fire-drill day. The coincidence was so contrived Batman was sure someone was pulling the strings in the background. Unfortunately, now was not the time to investigate.

The dynamic duo fought in the empty hallways of the lower floors. They were steadily being pushed upwards by the dark-clad throng, who never seemed to get fewer. Morse seemed to ooze out from every corner, steadily pushing them upwards.

It was around that time that the ceiling was blasted in, reigning debris on the Invaders and taking out the lights. This wasn't really a problem for the two, who instantly switched to night-vision lenses. Thus, they had a good view of the hulking monstrosity that came in through the hole in the ceiling and proceeded to tear apart the Invader's with its bare hands. Literally.

Robin stared in horror as the scene was temporarily veiled by dark dust, leaving only glowing blue crystals littering the ground. He felt his heart start to hammer in fear as he stared up at the dark, shapeless, nearly invisible _creature_ hunkered down before them.

Batman made a disapproving sound. "You're late."

There was a snort that nearly gave Robin a heart attack. "_**They're after the transmitter on the roof. **_"

"We can hold them off," Batman said, voice level. It wasn't confident, but that was because confidence was for lesser beings. It was _certain_.

"_**There is a giant gorilla outside your building.**_"

"You handle that," Batman said as more Invaders began to appear again.

"I miss Gotham," Robin said wistfully.

...

"Something tells me that someone is an Evangelion fan," Sailor Pluto noted as she knelt on her flying manta ray.

"Now all we have to do is tell if we're in the original series, the movies, the Rebuild or Super Robot wars," Yuuno said.

"Doesn't matter," Sailor Pluto said dismissively. "Everyone still dies and Shinji is still a weenie without his giant robot security blanket."

The two nodded sagely before dodging out of the way as the thirty-foot black Evangelion-clone, one of about a dozen, swung it's sword at them. They dodged out of the way, Yuuno using spells and constructs to keep them from destroying buildings as Sailor Pluto provided covering fire.

"Why didn't they have swords?" Yuuno mused. "I mean, given how useless the guns and stuff were, you'd think they realized it would be more efficient to just extend a prog knife into a sword."

"They were trying to buck the trend, I guess," Sailor Pluto said, looking longingly at a liquor store beneath them.

They attacked once more. The combined Invaders were ignoring them for the most part, instead attacking helpless citizens, though every so often one of the civilians would stiffen and spontaneously turn into an Invader. The two had to attack to maintain their attention, and it was all Yuuno could do to keep them confined to the area. He couldn't set up a barrier field because that would also trap them inside it, and they needed to be mobile to react to other threats. Attacks spells had never been his strong suit, and though he was getting better at it, he still had a way to go. That said, the nightmare that was 'training' with Nanoha on the moon hadn't been for nothing.

Green chains erupted as he tried to bind the Invaders in place. About half were caught, but the others, moving with the sickeningly organic fluidity of their source material, had managed to avoid his trap. Sailor Pluto shot out her attack, but the powerful blasts of energy couldn't exactly be spammed effectively. She managed to tag two, damaging them enough to slow them down before she had to concentrate on evading them. "Hurry!" she cried.

Yuuno grunted as she set his chains whirling, reinforcing them with constructs. The things cried as he dismembered them with the impromptu chainsaws, tearing them apart. He cleaved their torsos open while they were down, revealing their red cores. A thought and an effort of will, and needles of green light stabbed through them, causing the Invaders to convulse and dissolve. He didn't bother to watch, dashing to get to Sailor Pluto and raising protective barriers around them. the swords burned with heat, and he quickly adjust the shields to protect against that as well, a part of him marveling slightly. He'd have had difficulty doing that with magic, but with the ring, it was so simple…

"We need a better plan!" Yuuno cried. "You can't drive that thing and shoot at the same time and I'm the only one with any shields! If we take too long, people are going to get hurt!"

Sailor Pluto cursed, sending a Dead Scream that missed but managed to tear up the road, causing the Invader next to the one she was aiming at to momentarily stumble. Yuuno didn't have time to bind, instead slamming a giant spear through it. It seemed to miss the core, but the enormous construct pinned it to the ground, allowing Sailor Pluto to finish it off. "How much weight can you carry?"

"Huh?"

"HOW MUCH WEIGHT CAN YOU CARRY?-!"

"Theoretically, as much as I want, but what does that have to do with– _**GAH!**_"

Sailor Pluto leapt from her flying manta ray and with Magical Girl precision managed to grab a surprised Yuuno's shoulders, wrapping one arm around his waist to steady herself and holding on hard as her legs dangled freely in the air. A panicked Yuuno instinctively set all his shields on full, wrapping them in thousands of nano-meter-thick shields to protect them from several simultaneous stabs as he flailed about in the air.

Sailor Pluto pulled herself up, managing to raise her face to Yuuno's shoulder as he turned his head, allowing them to look at each other face to face. "W-what?" he managed.

"This way, I can shoot _and _have shields," she said levelly.

"A little warning next time," he said. Stirrups wove themselves into being, slipping into her feet and connecting to a harness that wrapped around Yuuno for added stability. There was no added weight, since it was connected directly to the energy aura around him that proved flight, but it _felt_ like there should be. "Try not to cover my eyes and hold on!"

They _moved_.

"You smell nice," Sailor Pluto commented. She pointed as Yuuno maneuvered, disk-like shields covering them from all directions. "_Dead Scream_…"

...

Sailor Neptune let out a steady stream of extremely unladylike curses as she awkwardly maneuvered the flying manta ray. "WHAT BLIND IDIOT ON A SUGAR HIGH MADE THE CONTROLS OF THIS DAMNED THING?-!" she demanded as she tried to manipulate the controls on her wrist without falling off.

Somewhere, Saotome Haruna sneezed.

"Just try to keep flying straight!" Chrono cried, chancing a look behind them and instinctively pulling his knees to his chest. One of the gigantic, one-eyed dogs chasing them snapped at his legs from well over twenty feet away, but Lindy Harlaown hadn't raised any dummies. "Move!"

He dropped a binding as they flew away. It wasn't much, barely catching the lead wolf pursuing them, and even then, it only caught for a moment before breaking, but it was enough. It stumbled as it's left paw refused to move for several crucial moments before sheer mass and kinetic energy overwhelmed the spell, and the ones directly behind it plowed into it, at least four of them getting tangled together and falling in a heap while over either bounded over them or darted sideways, slamming and scrapping against he buildings on either side.

Chrono pointed S2U at the packed mass. "_Stinger Blade!_" he cried, a mass of energy swords appearing around him. "_Execution Shift!_"

They streaked forward, slamming into paws, elbows, knees, shoulders, jaws, necks and other important joints before detonating, crippling those in the forefront and allowing the last wave of the spell to slam into motionless eyes. The wolves howled as their central cores were pierced and they began to dissolve away.

Through the mist of the dissolving Invaders, more wolves charged, and it was all Chrono could do to raise his shields, barely managing to stop at least three enormous jaws from swallowing him whole. "NOW!" he cried.

Up above, Sailor Neptune peered into her mirror carefully, one finger pointed below. "_Submarine Reflection!_" she cried, the beam from the mirror sniping at eyes as as Chrono darted quickly between wolves, sniping at joints, binding heads and generally doing everything he could to get them to stand still long enough to get hit.

As the last of the wolves dissolved, Chrono darted to Sailor Neptune, who handled the manta awkwardly. "Next target?" he asked, as Sailor Neptune tried to use her mirror and keep from grazing a building.

She peered intently at it and pointed, tucking the mirror under one arm as she tried to make the manta turn. "That way," she said.

Chrono merely nodded, professionally assessing the encounter as he waited for her to turn the thing before they zoomed off towards the next concentration of enemies, sniping at any stray invaders they found below them.

"We make a good team," Sailor Neptune noted as they approached the next encounter point, where several giant black centipedes– or was it millipedes?– where wrapping themselves around buildings.

Chrono went through his limited stock of knowledge regarding Earth's under-aged male/older female interactions and came to the most logical conclusion. Unfortunately, the male in question was Negi Springfield. "I already have a girlfriend," he said, and zoomed off, leaving Sailor Neptune blinking in confusion.

...

Sailor Uranus was in love. Again.

A part of her found this highly disturbing, because it calculated it was the second time she'd fallen in love that week, and was afraid she was turning into Makoto. Or even worse, Minako. Still, that was all irrelevant at the moment. The wind in her hair, the feeling of speed coursing through her body, the inherent probability of a wrong turn or mistimed maneuver turning her into a bloody smear… ah, bliss.

What looked like several house-sized bowling balls rolled recklessly after her, crushing cars and anything else that happened to be in their path as they shot other bowling balls at her at military artillery velocities and rates that would do low-end machine-guns proud. She could have cared less.

She knelt on her manta, each movement and adjustment coming easily to her as she blazed through the sky, while behind her that flying woman with the Inumimi tried to keep up and shield herself from the projectiles Sailor Uranus dodged so easily.

"Slow down, will you!" Arf cried as she barely deflected one of the black balls being thrown her way. "We need to–!"

Sailor Uranus breezed past, almost kissing the ground before managing to pull up, the Space Sword held out to the side. "_SPACE SWORD BLASTER!_" she cried gleefully, the wave of energy, tearing through the mass-deprived black spheres and ripping their outer shells open, revealing the red orbs at their center. A second cry tore through the orbs, making the Invaders dissolve.

"…!" Arf said, barely articulate.

Sailor Uranus skidded to a stop, smiling in satisfaction before looking at Arf and winking. "I usually prefer a motorcycle when taking those things on," she said simply, twirling her sword on her finger. "But this does too. Well? Are you just going to float there?"

Whistling, she flew off at high speed, and Arf blinked before dashing after her. "Fight those things a lot?"

"Practically spring cleaning," Sailor Uranus said.

Arf sighed, and wondered if maybe Chrono had a point about 'crazy Earth people'…

...

Hotaru was a good girl. She never looked at Haruka-papa's dirty magazines even she knew where all of them were, she never asked Michiru-mama about all those plastic vibrating things, and she always hid all the alcohol from Setsuna-mama but never tried it out herself. She was, by definition, a good girl.

As such, she felt that, after all those times Haruka-papa's hand got lost when trying to do adult things to Michiru mama when she wasn't supposed to because other people were sitting nearby, all those times she'd had to put up with Minako and Makoto and occasionally even Ami and Rei moaning about the distinct lack of boys, and being overshadowed by several older women, all of whom had way bigger breasts than her, she deserved a break.

Now, said break had come, and she was going to milk it for all it was worth, damn it!

"Ah, Erebus-kun, don't let me fall!" she said in her best 'little girl' as she allowed herself to slide slightly on the flying manta ray, causing Magus Erebus to tighten his hold around her wais and on the manta.

"Hold on, Sailor Saturn!" he said, lying on top of her and using his weight to keep her pinned down as she drove. He glanced behind them, one hand snapping up to provide a wind barrier as several Invader hover-tanks chased after them, barrels alternately shooting solid projectiles and blasts of kinetic energy. "We're almost in position! Can you keep driving?"

"I-I think s-so," she said, dredging up every underhanded boy-catching trick she'd ever heard Minako natter on about.

Magus Erebus smiled encouragingly at her. "You're being very brave, Sailor Saturn," he said, and Hotaru fought to keep the wide smile off her face. "In fact, you remind me of one of my students…"

Not allowing her face to change, Sailor Saturn wondered if this student would need to be… _dealt_ with…

...

Nodoka, once more wearing the not-that-embarrassing-garb-but-definitely-embarrassing-name-of-Magical-Girl-Psycho-Purple, sneezed.

"Purple, out of the way!" Yue cried, using one of her Souken to block several kinetic energy blasts an Invader had sent her way. "I told you to stay behind me!"

"S-sorry, Valkyrie-chi," Nodoka said, as Yue whirled to set up another defensive barrier. She returned to her duties. "Striker Yellow! Gilgamesh-san! Invaders in the treeline of the eastern sector!"

"Got it,-aru!" Ku said, dodging a blast and aiming her artifact. "LAUNCH-ARU!"

The staff expanded, going from three inches thick to the size of a bus as it elongated with a speed to make cruise missiles proud. Ku was lifted ten feet of the ground as she hung on to the pole that was now slightly angled downward, its metal-encased end buried amidst crushed trees and ruined landscaping. She immediately withdrew the staff, shrinking it when the end was halfway towards them. They'd learned their lesson about doing it the other way around when several invaders had hitched a ride, and Yue had barely been able to blast them off with a disarming spell that had made them let go of the weapon.

_They'd_ obviously learned their lesson too, however, because blasts continued to erupt from that area. Nodoka moved deeper behind the protective shadow of one of Haruna's Shield Maiden golems, trying to keep track of everyone's thoughts. The Invaders had no names or sense of personal identity, meaning she couldn't read their minds, since they technically _had_ no minds to read, so Nodoka had needed to get creative. She was scanning of everyone's thoughts, keeping track of what they were seeing so they could coordinate the defense. She already knew the others names, and that Gilgemesh fellow had given his readily enough, but she'd been surprised when Eternal Sailor Moon-sama had identified herself as 'Serenity'. That had been enough for her Diary to work with, though she'd been careful not to read the first few lines right away, knowing it would contain something along the lines of "Whew, good thing she doesn't know my real name is XXXXXXX".

Yue's mind was as she expected it to be, smooth, coordinated, and calculating, going through her spells with an eye towards energy efficiency and defense. She knew what her role was, and wasn't that bothered by the fact she wasn't attacking much. There were worried tangents about Negi-sensei and the other members of Ala Alba, and Nodoka blushed slightly at some erotic thoughts along the lines of "If I was injured, I wonder if anything would happen between Negi-sensei and me in the infirmary…?".

Ku was focused, although in a different way. She regarded this as… not a _game_, since she was perfectly aware of how serious a situation they were in, but her enthusiasm was certainly like that. There was no thought of defeat in her, merely a focused, calculating intellect bent on victory, completely at odds with the dopey exterior Nodoka knew in school but perfectly in keeping with the relentless, adaptable warrior she knew in battle.

Eternal Sailor Moon's mind was panicky, going off in random directions and screaming "I don't want to die, I don't want to be here, Tuxedo Kamen, please save me!" often in tandem with actually saying that out loud, but underneath that, Nodoka found strangely honed, focused mind, that was slightly bored, as if it had been in this kind of situation before, and knew it would be again, and thought it all a repetitive routine. Nodoka had to read the between the lines, but as an experienced reader she saw it, the underlying experience and strength that made her the leader of Japan's premier and most respected group of Magical Girls.

Gilgamesh's mind was a confused mess. For one thing, some words occasionally popped up that were written in some strange language, though footnotes identified it as Ancient Sumerian. And there were even stranger words that looked like no language Nodoka knew or recognized from her readings, that the footnotes identified as 'The extinct and forgotten Language of the Golden Federation of Earth, Galard'. What Nodoka _could_ understand went into tangents about childhood, kings, how much he _HATED_ Invaders, and how devoted he was to Eternal Sailor Moon. It was quite confusing.

And Haruna… well, let's just say Nodoka had long since learned finding out what was in Haruna's mind was a bad idea and leave it at that.

They stood in the center of the field they were protecting, surrounded by weapons sticking point-first into the ground, many of Haruna's golems, and glowing crystals of fallen Invaders. Gilgamesh was doing most of the work, with the others pitching in as they could. Haruna was handling most of defense. As Nodoka directed their defense, marveling at the sheer amount of weapons Gilgamesh produced and actually seeing Eternal Sailor Moon at work ("Hey! I thought I'd lost this! _MOON TIARA ACTION!_"), she wondered how the others were doing…

...

Chisame had never been bullied. One would think an introverted girl like her would have an angst-rich back story about how she was once a smiling, optimistic grade-schooler with an aptitude for sewing who liked to wear outrageous but beautiful clothes who'd been mercilessly bullied until she'd been reduced to a cynical, distrusting, introverted wreck with her own specific views of what the world should be like and becoming an internet idol because it was the only place she was accepted, but surprisingly, no. Chisame was just a perfectly ordinary girl with a hobby who didn't get along well with people. The most she'd been bullied was when Chachamaru had forced her along to barbeques and things.

That said, she'd recently spent several traumatizing weeks in Mundus Magicus. Exposure to both Dynamis and Jack Rakan had left their mark, and unlike the more martial-minded of Ala Alba, she had yet to vent the frustration.

"CRUSH THEM!" she cried from on top of Meat-Bun Supreme, directing her forces with her scepter. "PULVERIZE THEM! SHOW THEM THE POWER OF AN ELECTRON-SPRITE ACCELERATED GYNOID COMBAT PROCESSOR! KNOW THE POWER OF _**THE CALCULATOR!**_"

"She's really gotten into this, hasn't she?" Kaede said.

"Very enthusiastic," Sailor Mercury agreed.

"_HEL-LO!_" Sella cried as she reloaded her shotgun, while Rider darted from Invader to Invader, tearing through them like they were so much tissue. "A LITTLE MORE HELP HERE?"

...

A few nights ago, Fate had watched something called Star Wars with Alisa, Suzuka and Nanoha, during some of Nanoha's non-superheroic free time. The setting had been merely a flimsy premise to support the plot, and it showed. Three movies of individual debatable quality (Alisa had complained quite often, if not too loudly, at the absurdity of the dialogue delivery) that somehow wove into a well-wrought emotional narrative.

It would later haunt Fate's nightmares.

As they headed back home, this exchange had occurred.

"That Death Star…" Fate said. "It was pretty bad…"

Nanoha nodded. "I can think of a dozen laws its construction alone would violate, not all of them building codes."

Fate had laughed, amused at her friend's dedication to her work. To Nanoha's credit, she was aware of it. "Still, at least something like that is only a _fictional_ weapon…"

And Nanoha had fallen silent.

"Nanoha?" Fate had prompted.

"Well…" Nanoha had said slowly, finger tracing shapes in the air, as if drawing some blueprint in her mind's eye. "I think I can see how I can get that sort of power output…"

Fate's sleep that night had been delayed by visions of green moon-sized battle-stations and a countdown in Raging Heart's voice about how there was ten seconds before they were ready to fire on Alderaan.

What made it slightly worse was that she couldn't muster up the nerve to ask Nanoha how serious she'd been about that statement.

Here and now, watching Nanoha floating within a perfect green sphere and shooting Axel Shooters through a single opening with occasional pure green beams of force, Fate shuddered.

"Fate-chan?" Nanoha said, breaking through her reverie.

Fate snapped back to reality as she realized Nanoha had just blocked several blasts coming at her from behind without her knowing, simultaneously embarrassed and chilled with horror at realizing her fatal error. "Sorry, Green Lantern-chan!" she cried, wheeling about to track the Invaders attacking them. Some were shaped like demonic cars, their fronts rows of nightmare teeth, while others where shaped like robots _made_ from cars, their baleful crimson eyes staring hatefully. She fired several Photon Lancers, knocking two off buildings they'd climbed or jumped on top of and managing to remove several limbs. Nanoha finished them off.

They streaked through the streets, Nanoha slightly ahead and protecting Fate with her shields, green and yellow blasts lashing out quickly to destroy targets, leaving glowing jewels, and running civilians in its wake.

"Fate-chan…" Nanoha said, and Fate whirled, Bardiche in shooting mode (when had she used that? Darn, it had been a long time), wondering what had caused the worried shift in Nanoha's voice. "I'm worried about Hayate-chan."

Fate blinked, sending Photon Lancers at targets and negotiating a particularly sharp turn right behind Nanoha as she tried to process this sudden shift in topics. "Who?"

"Hayate-chan," Nanoha clarified, raising one hand and sending several streams of light that solidified into manipulating pincers that grasped their targets and proceeded to use an attach buzzsaw to tear them open to reveal their core before having that part cut in half itself. "Suzuka-chan's friend in the hospital."

Fate blinked. "Is this really the time to be talking about this?" she said, slightly bemused.

Nanoha sighed as several of the Invader car robots leapt at her protective sphere, and she absently pointed Raging Heart at them with a rather bored and muted cry of "_DIVINE DANMAKU!_" wiping them out in a rather colorful, geometrically complex, and visually stimulating blast of destructive energy. Fate found herself quite glad Nanoha had not yet invented that when they were still fighting. It looked like it _hurt_. "Well, it's not like this is N-dimensional Nextian Geometry," Nanoha said. "I scanned Hayate-chan that time we visited her and… and…"

"And?" Fate prompted as she dodged several Kinetic blasts, catching a few on her Defenser before striking with some Plasma Lancers. She was getting better at making those without having to use cartridges.

"Ring-chan said the scan was inconclusive!" Nanoha wailed.

"Well, Ring-chan probably just didn't know–" Fate tried to comfort her.

"But that's just it, Fate-chan!" Nanoha said, as she absently sent several flying sharks with chainsaw teeth and head mounted machine guns at a group of cars who were trying to combine, possibly into a Hummer. "Ring-chan _should_ know! It has every known disease that has ever appeared in the universe for the last 15 billion years! If it was anything from Tria Gland Infection to Despotellis, Ring-chan should be able to identify it! But Ring-chan can't tell what's paralyzing Hayate-chan's whole nervous system! It could be some new disease entirely! And people who get new diseases generally don't survive to get the cure! We could be looking at a massive outbreak of some new strain of disease! There could be an epidemic!"

Fate felt fear start to grip her at these words, but she forced it down ruthlessly. Giving into fear served no purpose. "Nanoha," she said. "That's neither here nor now. Focus. Maybe we can talk to Ala Alba, see if this is some kind of magical ailment somehow. You told me once the Green Lantern Corps doesn't have a lot on magic. Or we could ask Yuuno. He might know."

Nanoha nodded, her face firming as she pulled back from medical concerns and focused on the relatively simple task of wiping out an army of the forces of evil. "You're right, Fate-chan," she said as she picked up an Invader car and used it as a blunt instrument on several others. "You're right, of course."

Nanoha went back to business, and Fate sighed as she watched her friend's back– and it was definitely her BACK, and _**NOT**_ her ass! The small fear she had over her friend's wellbeing settled back in it's usual place in her chest. It was a new fear to her, but one that had made itself comfortable, and Fate wouldn't have it any other way. As long as she was afraid for Nanoha… well, that meant she'd never let anything happen to her.

After all, wasn't that was friends were for?

...

Kazumi used one of her spy drones to look over the edge of Wayne Tower. "There is a large gorilla climbing the building."

Indeed they could the feel the shudders, hear the crash of breaking glass as the thing climbed, not with the slow ponderousness of, say, a giant sailor made of marshmallow, or a CGI beast from a Jack Black movie, but of a creature dark magic and the forces of evil had optimized for climbing buildings quickly and efficiently.

Salor Venus hooked a length of her Love Me chain to the antenna and held on to it as she looked over the edge herself. "WOW, that thing is big and ugly! Getting really close too…"

Chachmaru hovered beyond the edge, staring down at the rapidly moving creature, a gun shaped like a kitten with one eye open in her hand. "Al-Iskadariya preparing to fire. Narrowest beam, lowest setting," she said, pointing the kitty. "Targeting…"

A targeting laser shot from the kitten's eye, 'painting' the target.

Sailor Venus sweatdropped. "You're kidding me, right?"

"You use something called 'Love And Beauty Shock'," Kazumi pointed out, adjusting her mask. "A satellite-mounted laser weapon shaped like a kitten is perfectly in keeping with traditional Magical Girl tropes."

"Still…" Sailor Venus said. "It's kinda… out there."

"Oh, no argument here," Kazumi said.

"Targeting lock, established," Chachamaru pronounced calmly. She paused. "Target is too close to building. Structural integrity of edifice under threat. Unable to fire safely."

Kotaro scowled, leaning over the edge and cracking his knuckles It was barely thirty floors below them, and rising fast. "We need to get it off the building first, is that what you're saying?"

"Yes," Chachamaru pronounced. "Otherwise, structural collapse is likely."

And that was when a dark form suddenly crashed out of one of the few remaining windows, slamming into the gorilla-thing and latching on. The Invader roared as the dark form leapt off it, evading the clumsy arm that tried to squash it flat. The dark form became a blur, a dark blot against the sky as it moved with inhuman speed and fluidity. It leapt about, jumping back towards the building, lightly touching only long enough to leap off again, sometime only inches away from getting squashed by enormous hands. The Invader had slowed considerably, but was still making upward progress.

"Who!" cried Sailor Venus. "What's he trying to do? I can't see a thing! He's too fast!"

Fortunately, Ala Alba was used to inhuman speed and fluidity, and were able to make out what was happening just fine.

"He's putting something on the building!" Kotaro said, peering intently downward. "I can't make out what–"

Everything on the face of the building within five feet of the Invader exploded outward.

"Never mind," Kotaro said flatly.

"Target removed from edifice," Chachamaru intoned, pointing her kitten. "Target lock established. Firing."

A beam of light shot down from the heaven's, coming not from directly above but at a considerable angle, striking the giant Invader gorilla straight on. The shockwave rippled outward, passing through the building despite the Invader no longer being on it, and Venus and Kazumi stumbled, the Senshi loosing her grip on her chain…

"Relax, I've got you," Kotaro said, grabbing the blonde as shadows whirled in rings by his feet, levitating him. He settled the girl back on the building as more rose up from the point of impact, along with the distant tinkling of a lot of falling glass.

Kazumi struggled to her feet as Sayo helped her up. She checked her Artifacts and her eyes went wide. "Incoming!"

"Don't tell me _that_ didn't kill it?-!" Sailor Venus cried, just as they heard something _enormous_ hitting the ground.

"No, that got it," Kazumi said, even as she ran as far from the edge as she could. "It's the bunch of small ones climbing up that's the problem!"

"Enemy count at 47 units and rising," Chachamaru said as she put away the targeting laser. Her arms reconfigured into buns as a pair of metal filaments protruded from her back, complementing her 'tail'. "Beginning counter-attack."

Methodically, she began raining death on the Invaders trying to climb. Many were generally monkey-shaped, and as quick and agile as the form implied, leaping side to side and finding handholds on the increasing abused sides of the building. However, they were no match for Chachamaru's targeting system. Each blast from her weapon struck a target, and in some cases the beam passed though several, resulting in a literal path of destruction. Sailor Venus, Kotaro and Sayo quickly joined in as Kazumi sent her drones to circle the building to make sure they weren't taken by surprise.

They sniped, their superior position granting them the advantage, despite the fact some Invaders would try to blast them. The black blur that had blasted the Invader off the building returned, moving up the building as adeptly as the Invaders themselves, and infinitely quicker. It fell on them like a shadow, and the next moment all that was left was a falling crystal. It was so indistinct that the defenders on the roof would sometimes shoot it by accident, even Chachamaru, but it moved so quickly they didn't even manage a glancing blow.

So focused, they were mostly unprepared when the door leading into the building next to the helipad burst open, and two figures in tights and one in armor rolled out past a surprised Kazumi, all throwing curved metal projectiles into the doorway, which then promptly exploded.

Robin stood up and blinked. "_Why are there so many people on the roof_?"

"_Uh, hi_," Kazumi said, waving a hand lamely as she replied in English. "_We're, uh, here to stop these things._"

"_Oh_," Robin said. "_Um, that's nice of you. Isn't it, Bats?_"

Batman turned and glared.

Kazumi yelped, her hands rising to form a small cross with her fingers. "VAMPIRE! Back, creature of the night! The power compels you!"

There was a pause, the only sounds screams, broken glass and shooting.

"It's daylight, Intrepid Reporter-san," Chachamaru chided gently as she shot heads off nonstop. "And if a vampire were strong enough to resist that, such as the Master, you would most certainly already be doomed."

Robin stifled a laugh. "_Huh. _That_ hasn't happened in a while…_"

...

When the Invaders arrived, it was quite obvious they were not there to just take control of Kotomine Church.

They were there to _destroy_ it.

"Someone doesn't like this place," Lancer commented as he danced among black forms, spear flicking out like a tongue, each touch bringing forth dissolution. Invaders, both the tame-looking ones and the more wild-looking, disturbing, formerly human ones all fell before his spear, every strike finding its mark.

Tuxedo Kamen dodged the grasping attacks of the invaders, his cape a confusing whirl around him as his sword-cane flickered, a darting point of light as he tried to equal Lancer's kill-rate and doing very well for himself. "I don't see why. The architecture's not bad…"

"Foul villains! You dare attack a place a worship?-!" Sailor Mars cried.

"Why are you so worked up about this?" Sailor Jupiter felt compelled to ask.

"It's professional courtesy!" Sailor Mars cried. She leapt into the midst of the Invaders, arms whirling. "_MARS FIRESTORM FLASH!_"

A huge storm of flames whirled around her, incinerating the Invaders surrounding her.

Asuna sweatdropped. "Wow…"

"Yeah…" Leysritt said.

"That stain's going to need a lot of scrubbing to get out," Asuna said.

"It's going to be a bitch," the maid agreed.

...

Chao Lingshen sat at a rather nice tea house in Takamiya City, enjoying a well brewed cup of tea that the busty Tea Cup spirit had poured her, and wondered whether she'd have time to sneak into Uminari to buy a cake. Over at the next table, a girl, a witch, a cat demon, and a Mizuchi were fighting over a poor boy who wore an expression of suffering commonly found in the male leads of harem-comedy romances. Damned lucky bastard.

Her laptop lay open before her, a seemingly innocuous machine that was, of course, several generations, if not whole evolutionary ladders, above and beyond current machines, and that INCLUDED the crap Batman had brewing. Kryptonian Sunstone memory cores, Martian adaptive calculation units, TSAB Black Ops Central Processors, among other things, all made by her, by hand. Chisame-chan would have been proud, after she finished trying to strangle her.

She moved quickly between various screens, her surveillance units in Fuyuki so far undetected. So far so good. Everything was proceeding as had been laid out. Or at least, as it had been laid out last she checked. Chao had long learned that time-travel was not an occupation for the overly-philosophically minded. It wasn't set in stone, no matter what anyone wanted to say. And it wasn't fluid and changeable, either. It was, as that old show said, a big timey-wimey ball of stuff. Unfortunately, that stuff seemed to include a lot of boogers. So Chao had long since stopped wondering whether her present, from her perspective, had already been changed, or hadn't changed, or whatever. The possibility of alternate times– past, present and future– had long been established well before now, and her current working partner had only driven that point home even harder.

Speaking of whom…

She pulled out a handheld unit that _looked_ like a cellphone, but of course was obviously not. Thank goodness Apple never changed a look that worked. Tapping the option to connect to the local telecom networks, she dialed a number– literally, on a literal rotary array on the touch-screen, since she'd always thought those were fun– and waited for her partner in crime to answer.

"_Moshi-moshi,_" a slightly full mouth answered.

"_Hello_, Nurse," Chao said, leaning back slightly and grinning. "Watcha wearin'?"

There was a cough, a hasty swallow, and a retort in the imperative form.

"Now, now," Chao chided. "That language is completely unsuitable for a princess. Speaking as one myself, I'd know."

"Oh, shut up," Tsukino Usagi 'Small Lady' Serenity growled. "Why are you bothering me during my lunch hour?"

"I thought it was considered unprofessional for nurses to take personal calls while on duty?" Chao chided.

"I'm hanging up…" came the threat.

"You're no fun," Chao said, pouting. "Fine, fine, business. Things are proceeding as scheduled on my end. Your mother, Negi-kun, and associated harems, high priestesses, lunatics and workaholics of Justice are in Fuyuki as we speak. The Heaven's Feel phase of the set up is on track."

"Are you sure?" Chibi-Usa said. "I've heard you don't have a good track record of success when it comes to rituals."

"I was technically an Evil Overlord during the Festival," Chao said. "You of all people should know how often _those_ succeed. Now it's different. Now I'm a secret agent of Justice, protecting the Earth from the scum of the universe as the greatest hero no one's ever heard of."

"Hunter-san will be pissed at you for stealing his father's catchphrase," Chibi-Usa sniffed.

"Tough," Chao said. "How are things at your end? Did Archer accomplish his objective?"

"He did," Chibi-Usa said, sounding both relieved and apprehensive. "Three of four knights have been cleansed of Avenger."

They sat in silence for a moment.

"Well," Chao said, trying to dispel the mood. "That's it then. Now all that's left is destruction and Starlight Breakers to the face."

"This is wrong…" Chibi-Usa said. "So many people will be hurt…"

"That's life," Chao said, a certain fatalism in her voice.

"We could tell them… warn them…"

"Forewarned is forearmed?" Chao said. "You know how they feel about predestination."

"Isn't that what we're doing?"

Chao allowed herself a grim smile. "Have you ever heard of the Legion of Superheroes? The Great Darkness War? Of Mars trying to conquer the Earth? Of the Death of Gaia?"

"…No…"

"Then this isn't predestination," Chao said. "I don't think it ever was."

More silence.

"_So…_" Chao said, grinning again. "What kind of socks are you wearing?"

There was a growl, and the line went dead.

Chuckling, Chao put down the phone, and looked up to find the Tea Cup Spirit blinking down at her. She gave her best smile. "Another refill please."

As the busty waitress stepped away, Chao went back to watching her surveillance feeds, ignoring the ache of the sigils written into her body…

...

In the darkness of the besieged Wayne Tower, in the midst of a goodly amount of destroyed building material and dust, sat a strange device. It looked vaguely like a record player, from those bygone days when the Beatles were together, people had to walk to school through three feet of snow, uphill, during hurricanes, and dinosaurs walked the Earth. Except the 'record' on it had a face.

The record spun, a needle-sharp stylus on it's surface, as it played. Dark wires flowed out from the side of the boxy device, into holes torn open in the building's structure, to the metal beneath the concrete…

The disc turned…

And all through Fuyuki, the signal rose.

_Awake…_

...

**- To be continued...**

...

A/N: I feel like I've done wrong by Sailor Saturn and Nodoka somehow…

Fate was shown the original, trilogy with the non-bandboy Anakin-ghost ending. AS IT SHOULD BE!

The latest Chapter of Vivid, 19.5, implies that Reinforce 1 was the original Master of the Tome of the Night Sky. Fascinating thought…

Though I have to wonder how they made something like Laevatein in the apparently-middle ages setting of the original Sankt Kaiser, much les something like the Saint's Craddle…

Please leave LOTS of reviews, as this was a long time in the making...

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	21. Gojira Threshold

A/N: I realized I've put in too much seriousness into the series. And while I have nothing against that, and I'm sure readers like it… it's gotten increasingly harder to write transitions. Yes, I've revealed the big, hidden reason why I write crack. For some reason, scene transitions are easier in this genre. On that note, who do I talk to on ffnet about having a 'CRACK' genre?

And now we're back to the original premise of this fic: Nanoha doing insane shite with a Crom-damned Power Ring! If you don't like the number of crossovers… well, that might be problematic, since it's only going to go UP from here.

...

Takamachi Nanoha of 2814

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 21: Gojira Threshold

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story. If I did… well, this would all be canon. WARNING: MAY CAUSE HEAD EXPLOSION!

...

Oa. The Center of the Universe. The people who lived there, despite calling themselves the Oans, and having been on the planet for longer than many stars have had planets orbiting them, weren't native to it. That wasn't a problem, because they rather liked the place, such as it was. An atmosphere breathable, or at least not instantly fatal or corrosive, to most, among other things, carbon, silicon, quartz, light, chemical reaction and mathematical equation (don't ask) -based life-forms in the known universe (which for the residents of Oa was nearly every cube light-year of it), a rather basic crust floating on molten rock rather than some esoteric affair of a flat disk on the back of four elephants on the back of a giant turtle– as compared to the one encountered at Incident report from 2,351,864,879 ABB (that is, After Big Bang, adjusted to current Earth Calendar from Oan Chronological reckoning), orbiting a star that was at that rather pleasant yellow stage (which the Guardians drew lots as to which of them would take care of it every million years or so to make sure it stayed that way)… for the most strategically advantageous location in the universe, it was pretty pleasant, if you didn't mind all the various species in green, black, white, and occasionally other colors (depending on personal preference and which frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum they could perceive, and with what sense organs).

Scores of Green Lantern's flew about, or teleported, or conducted themselves across metallic surfaces, or in some extreme cases actually _walked_, all through out the capital. All the GL action was mainly concentrated at this central location, with most of Oa serving as data storage, DNA preservation storage (an old program the Guardians had code-named 'Omnitrix' back before they invented the Rings, now used to preserve genetic diversity, and as a species identification database), special prisoner containment, various simulacrum of especially common terrains from across the universe, repopulation programs for various endangered and/or extinct species across the universe (including a breeding colony of Dodo birds and Tyrannosaurus Rex. The former haven't been re-introduced because approval is still stuck in bureaucracy, and the latter because it had been stuck so long, Earth had evolved too far to make their reintroduction viable without _seriously_ screwing up the ecosystem. One of the Guardians kept them around as a hobby), farmlands and agricultural sectors, the Lantern Crypts (hey, they've been operating for literally billions of years, that's a lot of dead Lanterns), and other miscellaneous industries and facilities.

On the training grounds, that month's crop of aspiring Lantern rookies toiled under the legendary drill sergeant Killowog, one of the most respected Green Lanterns of this generation. At one of the administrative buildings, Sailor Galaxia was meeting with her parole officer. Though about 3600 were always on the field at any given time, there were many lanterns, such as the Honor Guard, the Administration Staff, the Emergency Reserve, and the Instructors Corp, who stayed on Oa and dealt with things, bringing their total manpower of the Corps closer to 4000, not counting non-Ringbearing staff. There had recently been talk of instituting a two-Lantern per Sector arrangement, which keen Lanterns who knew their history believed would likely be approved or vetoed by the Guardians some time in the next couple of millennium (since after 3 million years, give or take a couple of dozen hundred thousand years, the Guardians still haven't made up their mind about the coed lockers, baths and outdoor hot springs), barring universe-threatening catastrophe (such as the First God War of 1,957,167,984 ABB, when many of the so-proclaimed deity-creator beings of the universe became actively involved in evangelization, leading to wars that soon encompassed over 47 percent of the patrolled space sectors, and the reform that led to there being a Green Lantern in EVERY sector, and not just one for every ten. The first was resolved by the intervention of the Endless known generically as Dream. Sadly, it was not the last).

At the center of Oa (for the uninitiated, the star, the planet, and the capital city were ALL called Oa. Some joke the reason the Guardians left Maltus is because the name was too complicated), was the Citadel of the Guardians. At least, that's how it's translated in most languages. In original Maltusin, which is the linguistic root of the currently spoken language known as Oan, the word used is actually closer in meaning to head office/vacation place away from spouse/religious gathering facility/gambling center for the aged/ torture chamber/ mild stimulant consumption and pithy philosophical bantering exchange place. But most people called it a Citadel (or direct translation thereof) and the Guardians decided to just roll with it.

The Citadel was where the Guardians– ALL of them– lived. There were only about thirty of them awake at any one time, and they'd long ago stopped making more. Those Lanterns from species who used sexual reproduction to propagate and enjoyed it shuddered at the idea. You _don't_ want to know what the space dolphins thought.

They seldom went into the field except in highly unusual and extraordinary occasions, or highly dangerous ones. The recruitment of a being from _that_ little blue planet, for one, some political negotiations with god-type entities, really big threats (See First, Second, Third, all the way up to the Eleventh God War, at which point their Green Lanterns had already known what to do), the unlikely event a Green Lantern is charged with some kind of crime and Oa needs a witness, that sort of thing. Most of the time, they were behind the scenes. They made sure that the sealed up monstrosities stayed sealed up, that the forbidden knowledge stayed forbidden, that there were always enough power rings and that potential recruits were up to snuff, so to speak. For all the Green Lanterns did, if it weren't for the things the Guardians kept ticking behind the scenes, they'd be doing a lot more, numbering ten times what they were, and probably losing badly to some invasion of elder gods or something.

Who do you think kicked their asses in the first place?

Right then, however, they were taking what in known in common parlance as 'a break'.

It all began when it turned out some Green Lantern out there was actually sending in their paperwork. _**ALL OF THEM.**_

The Guardians were familiar with the phenomenon known in some places as "Arson, Murder and Jaywalking". As callous as it was, Green Lanterns are trained to focus on 'Arson' and 'Murder', and leave 'Jaywalking' to others. In this case, 'Jaywalking' was paperwork. It was implicitly understood that the Lanterns need not send in a report for every incident of petty theft, since they had too much ground together, too many things to do, and likely not a lot of life to do it in. Time spent doing that could be better used doing their duties. Someone, however, _**WAS.**_

So there had been an inquiry, and it had turned out that 2814.1 (as opposed to 2814.2), was actually managing this _in spite_ of how busy she was. They'd actually had to order her to put a sock on it after she'd submitted 1354 petty theft reports in the first _month_. She still managed to send in more reports then any four sectors put together. Eventually, the inquiry was dropped, and some poor sucker was assigned to make sure it all went in the right places.

During the inquiry, however, the Guardians had caught a glimpse of what 2814.1 got up to, and… well…

Let's put it this way: the term 'NanoFate' exists on Oa. So does 'YuuNoha', and 'YuunoFate'. And the Guardians were circuitously reintroduced to the dark allure of reality TV…

...

"_Invader activation signal, detected,_" Ring-chan announced in a Tara Strong-esque voice.

"What?-!" Nanoha cried, looking down at her ring, then turned to look at Wayne Enterprises Tower. "Visor! Display!" A green visor dutifully wrapped itself around Nanoha's eyes. The HUD showed the building surrounded by small but slowly thickening waves, identified as the signal. "Jam it!" Nanoha ordered, then paused. "Are those gorillas climbing the building? And why are all the windows broken?"

"_Orbital energy beam weapon,_" Ring-chan answered. "_Jamming insufficient. Activation imminent._"

"Oh," Nanoha said. Then she sighed. "I _really _wish people would be more considerate and not make a mess…"

"Um Nanoha-chan, not to tell you how to do your job…" Fate said, jamming a fresh batch of cartridges into Bardiche with her speed-loader.

Nanoha blinked, looking at the massive numbers of demonic-looking winged beings surrounding them. "Oh, yeah. Huh. I wonder what the emergency Reinforced-san had to attend to was, though? I hope it's nothing serious."

_Somewhere, Dark Caster was getting her ass kicked._

"Nanoha!" Fate cried.

Nanoha gestured. "_Divine Emerald Bombardment!_"

After the Invaders 'went away', Fate turned to Nanoha. "That looked like your Divine Danmaku spell."

Nanoha shrugged. "I like to have backups. Come on, we need to make it to the transmitter."

They zoomed off, now having to fly high and control the airspace with Reinforced gone. They had needed to quickly reshuffle their forces once Reinforced had informed them that she and Masked Rider Purple and likely the others would need to withdraw to deal with the situation in Ryudou temple.

"Yuuno-kun!" Nanoha cried out. "I need you to cast a barrier across the city! There wasn't time before, but now we need it! It's too late to stop the signal, but at least we can keep their damage out of the real world!"

In her head, Fate heard Yuuno swear.

Nanoha blinked. "What does–?"

"ASK YOUR MOTHER!" Fate and Yuuno cried frantically.

Nanoha sighed. She switched frequencies to the ear-pieces she'd ring-wrought and given to the others. "Everyone! Change of plans! Yuuno-kun is going to create a barrier to isolate the Invaders! This _should_ keep the signal contained to within the barrier. Everyone be ready! We converge at the source of the transmissions! These things are likely to combine into one _really_ big thing!"

Fate looked at her. "Isn't that jinxing it?"

"At this point? There would be something fundamentally wrong with the universe if it _didn't _turn out like that," Nanoha said.

...

_**On Oa…**_

"2814.1 shows wisdom beyond her years."

"Still absolutely blind, though. It is almost physically painful, how she does not notice the attraction the Black Reaper feels for her."

...

Robin was starting to _really_ like Japan.

"_So, this is a club activity for you?_" he asked in disbelief.

The masked girl with the big boobs who seemed to be in charge of all the floating cameras nodded at him. "_Yup! We're Ala Alba, our school's special Magical Girl Anti-Evil Defense Club!_"

"_Whoa…_" Robin said. "_ Wish I had a club like that…_"

Somewhere far, far away, Garfield Logan, Koriand'r of Tamaran, Victor Stone, and Raven all sneezed.

Chachamaru suddenly perked up, although she didn't slow down in her shooting. "Electromagnetic field detected. Signal confirmed as Invader activation signal. Attempting to jam."

Sayo frowned down over the edge. "They've stopped moving!" she called out.

Kazumi quickly guided her drones over the edge, to see that the Invader-morphs fozen in place, their heads tilted to one side as if listening.

Predictably, this meant Berserker was now tearing through them like a wood-chipper through wet tissue.

"Damn, he's fast," Kotaro said, floating with two swirls of shadows near his feet. "Is he one of those 'speedsters' you guys have in the US?"

"_Huh?_" Robin asked, not understanding a word of Japanese. Kazumi translated. "_Don't know. I just met the guy. Hey, Batman–!_"

"No," Batman said tersely.

"_Huh?_" Robin said. Kazumi translated. "_I really got to learn how to talk Japanese…_"

Above them, the sky changed. The discoloration continued, surrounding the entire city as the feel of the air changed.

"W-what?" Sailor Venus gasped. "What's happening to the sky?"

Kotaro narrowed his eyes. "I've seen this before. This is that barrier thing Green Lantern-chan's crew has…"

Robin blinked. "_Hey! What's–_" he said in surprise as he and Batman faded away.

A heartbeat later, they all cried out in surprise as Invaders, hundreds, thousands of them, began to rise in the air. Chachamaru quickly pointed her kitten at it, the aiming laser painting it. "Unable to attack! Al-Iskandariya is outside the barrier."

"What's it doing?" Sayo asked, panicked.

Sailor Venus stared, heart leaden. "They're combining…"

...

It is usually customary for people to just stand around gaping as the giant monstrosity reveals itself. And the Invader population of a good-sized modern city certainly makes for a fair-sized monstrosity. And in many ways, Nanoha was a traditionalist. She did the poses, she gave the speeches, she fought for Truth, Love, and Justice, she kept her identity a secret, the whole shebang. She'd have been perfectly content to gawk along with the rest of them.

Fate, however, was _not_ a traditionalist.

"_PLASMA SMASHER!_" she cried, lightning striking out to blast the congealing mass in the air.

"AH! Fate-chan, what are you doing?-!" Nanoha asked, shocked.

Fate blinked. "I'm attacking," she said, "Before it gets a chance to move."

Nanoha looked at her like she'd suggested they eat hamsters.

"Nanoha, we shouldn't waste time!" Fate said, dashing forward to continue the attack.

Nanoha looked torn for a moment, then sighed. "THIS IS _SO_ AGAINST THE RULES!" she cried, flying after Fate. "Raging Heart, Buster Mode! Ring-chan, prepare overkill buffer!"

"_Buster Mode, set,_" Raging Heart confirmed as it changed shape.

"_We can _see _that_," Ring-chan said. "_You don't have to go around announcing everything you do!_"

"Be nice, you two," Nanoha said. She aimed Raging Heart, its energy wings flaring as she energy began to gather from her ring. "_DIVINE DANMAKU! DIVINE EMERALD BOMBARDMENT!_"

Thousands of balls of pink and green energy flew out, twirling, spiraling, blooming and helixing in complicated, eye-catching patterns as they flew towards the dark mass converging. They slammed against the mass, exploding all across the surface. A noticeable layer of mass was removed, thousands of glowing crystals falling like rain.

Before Nanoha and Fate could prepare another barrage, the mass firmed, solidifying. It floated in the sky, a giant, formless hunk. Then gravity took over. It fell, looking deceptively slow, and, as Nanoha realized, deceptively small. Her spell and construct were very wide area things, and she hadn't been able to appreciate the scale of the attack. As it fell to the ground however, Nanoha realized: the mass was about the size of 16 city blocks.

"Oh, poot," she said quietly.

A sizable portion of the city was crushed utterly, and Nanoha could feel the shockwave from all the way where she was. Several skyscrapers trembled dangerously. Instinctively, she gestured, light from her ring resolving into bind-like rings capturing the buildings and keeping them from falling. She could vaguely make out some of Ala Alba on top of the tallest building.

"What's happening to it?" Fate said, seeing Nanoha's attack had been ineffectual.

"It's assuming a combat form," Nanoha said. She turned to look down, seeing the mass resolving itself. Her heart stopped. "Oh, poot."

The Invader rose. Up. And up. And up. Thick, rocky-looking skin. A triple row of maple-leaf-like spines. A tail that made up 3/5ths of its length. Badly reptilian features. Barrel-like legs, and ineffectual-looking claws. An enormous mouth filled with car-sized teeth.

Gojira-Invader opened its mouth and roared. Nanoha managed to snap earmuffs on herself and Fate before their eardrums burst.

"On the bright side," Nanoha said, a little breathlessly. "We can be sure there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the universe."

Fate gulped. She had no idea what the thing had become, though it seemed to give Nanoha pause, and Nanoha was the bravest person she knew. "Nanoha?"

"It shoots atomic fire from its mouth," Nanoha said, still a little breathless, though she seemed to be gathering herself. Her eyes narrowed behind her mask, fingers tightening on Raging Heart. "At least, it should. Watch out for it." Fear wanted to rise in her chest, sickly, golden and insidious. She pushed it down, pushed it out, told it to go take a hike because it had no business telling her what to do. Her left hand tightened on Raging Heart's haft, felt her ring scrape along it. "For the Corp," she murmured. Then she screamed, making Fate jerk in surprise, and charged, Divine Shooters coming to life around her as green light wove itself into armor, and descended like a madwoman upon the giant Invader.

Fate blinked. Then she sighed in exasperation and dashed on after Nanoha, Bardiche switching to shooting mode.

Punishing beams of concentrated green energy lashed out, basic, unimaginative and effective, accompanied by Thunder Smashers from Fate. They slammed into the giant Kaiju Invader but seemed to just bounce harmlessly off. Nanoha scowled, and tried to firm her will, but it was no use. A whole lifetime of _knowing_ that nothing could kill Gojira was playing hell with her willpower. She'd need to get creative…

Then it attacked. Its mouth opened wide, and Nanoha almost wasn't able to put the barriers between them in time. An _ENORMOUS_ blast of kinetic energy slammed into the multiple layers of protective constructs, nearly all of which shattered under the assault, the feedback made Nanoha cry out, but she maintained the protection around them as Fate grabbed her, moving them quickly out of the line of fire.

"FATE!" she said. "Remember that spell we talked about?"

Fate glanced sideways at her, frowning. "_That _spell? But there's hardly any magic in the air, and the ionization is low."

"Let _me_ worry about that!" Nanoha said. "Be ready to use the ionization once it's there! Yuuno!"

"_Green Lantern?_" Yuuno's voice said over her ring.

"Get everyone together and get airborne!" Nanoha ordered. "At this size, any battle with it is going to destroy everything at ground level within the barrier! I'll try to keep it at the center, while you get everyone else outside."

"_LIKE HELL!_"

Nanoha blinked. "Ferret Lantern-kun?"

Kira Death Note Paru-sama's voice came from the ring. "_NO WAY AM I GOING TO MISS OUT ON KICKING THE ASS OF MY FIRST KAIJU!_"

"I, uh, was already doing that," Yuuno's voice said. "Um, what are you doing with that sketchboo–"

There was a visual rush, the kind that, in a manga, would have used multiple outlines, fade effects, speed lines, and sound effects kanji that take up half of a two page spread. One moment, a spot of the damaged and soon to be rubble cityscape was bare except for a hint of green light, the next an enormous figure was rising from out of nowhere.

Nanoha and Fate stared. "Is that…" Fate began.

"A giant tokusatsu warrior?" Nanoha finished.

It was shining silver, with red accents and almond-shaped dome eyes. It barely had time to pose dramatically before the Invader kaiju slammed into it, bearing it down with its bulk and ripping its head off with it's teeth. The giant figure quickly faded away.

"_Har–!_" a scream began over Nanoha's ring.

"_Kira Death Note Paru-sama,_" someone corrected meekly.

"_**Argh! PARU, YOU IDIOT!**_" the scream continued.

"_Owie…_" came the voice. "_Man, was _that_ a bad idea_…"

"Ferret Lantern, get them out of here!" Nanoha ordered. "Fate, go with them! _Now!_" The belief that Gojira was invincible was too ingrained into her mind to work on right then, but there were workarounds. Nanoha gestured, and a green array formed itself, several concentric rings in a cylindrical formation. The rings spun, generating a magnetic field as a vacuum was prepared for the payload.

"N-Nanoha?" Fate asked.

"Go!" Nanoha ordered, pointing. Fate stared, helpless, but turned to fly and join Yuuno, switching to her Sonic Form– and this was _definitely_ not what she'd planned on using this for– and accelerating away.

Nanoha lined up the shot. Antimatter filled the containment field, transforming into a super-hot plasma state as an energy sheath was wrapped around it, generated by a contained ionic field. The Invader turned to her, spinning around, its bulk leveling everything around it, its tail tearing through the air as it swung it at Nanoha. Nanoha turned her construct at the incoming tail, which swung at her with ponderously. It seemed slow, the same way the moon was slow… and like the moon, could crush anything it struck. "Antimatter Plasma Blaster, _FIRE!_" Nanoha cried.

The bright blue ion disruptor beam screamed from the barrel of the construct, forcing away the very air with its wave front. The blast of purely generated energy slammed into the tail, the ion beam striking with a thunderous blow. The attack, not a direct strike by her willpower, and unaffected by her beliefs, struck with devastating effect.

And then the antimatter payload hit.

There was a great suction as the plasma ball reacted with the target and the air, but only for an instant. Annihilation soon followed, particles and anti-particles wiping each other out in a single, ferocious instant, the energy blooming outwards. It caught Nanoha, who was only partially prepared for the reaction, and was barely able to max out her energy aura. She went tumbling, and only managed to stabilize herself when she slammed into Yuuno's barrier.

"Ow," Nanoha groaned. "Ring-chan remind me next time I try to use an antimatter-payload weapon: they have a BIG explosion."

"_Yes ma'm. Incidentally, I took the liberty of dealing with any harmful radiations._"

Nanoha groaned, realizing she should have thought of that. "Nanoha no baka," she said, closing her eyes.

A roar echoed through the air. Her eyes snapped open again, and she stared in horror.

"Hmm…" she said to herself a bit breathlessly. "Perhaps it should have been obvious _that_ was coming…"

She launched herself from her location, barely escaping the blast of kinetic energy that had followed the roar. It slammed into the barrier, but it didn't break, merely rippled slightly. It wasn't magic, after all, just raw force. Yuuno did good work. She focused her will. She needed speed, needed to be fast…

Green light materialized around her ankles, shoulders, and back, forming wing-like shapes, similar to her Flier Fins. Technically, she didn't need them: her aura moved her after all, and was as fast or as slow as she wanted it to be… but she needed the props. It was a weakness. Every Lantern knew it was. _She_ knew it was. But they were also effective mental short-hands, sort of mnemonic devices to tell yourself what you were making your ring do. And so they were kept.

The Green Lantern zoomed, trying to keep ahead of the blasts. The Invader moved sluggishly, as expected of its size and mass. It seemed to be using its tail as a third limb, unable to completely support its weight with its stumpy legs alone. Nanoha recreated her construct, smaller now, firing quarter sized antimatter-plasma shots, using multiple rotating barrels. They slammed into the thing with noticeably lessened effect. Even the tail had only a relatively small scoop removed from it.

Nanoha didn't hear the scream that accompanied the spell, but it was soon obvious as lightning, much, _much_ bigger than any of Fate's Smasher spells, exploded all across the fake-Kaiju's back, leaping from spine to spine. It bloomed over most of the Invader, the air screaming like a thousand artillery shells going off in rapid succession. White-hot arcs of energy seemed to crawl across the creatures back, some spots superheating white hot or outright exploding, with long torn welding scars in between. She blinked, but immediately got to business. Her display visor isolated something in her field of vision, zooming in on that spot. A figure stood balanced on a wooden staff, a little lightning still leaping from his palm. "Magus Erebus?" she said.

As the lightning attack subsided, another took its place. It was much, much smaller, but for some reason it hit _much_ harder, as if half the storm from before had been concentrated in a single bolt. Gouts of flame, several balls of differently colored light, streams of lightning that were obviously Thunder Smashers, some seemingly needle-thin black streaks, and a few vertical whitish whirlwinds all attacked, most looking like sparks from firecrackers compared to the gargantuan beast.

Nanoha raised her ring close to her mouth. "Yuuno-kun?"

"_I was outvoted!_" Yuuno cried. "_Nanoha, you're the one who keeps telling me about how Magical Girls should act! Do you think _any_ of these people would actually leave you behind to save themselves?_" There was a beat. "_Besides, not one voted to leave. Incidentally, why are you using antimatter? Isn't that dangerous?_"

"I can't attack it directly with willpower!" Nanoha explained. "It's my upbringing! I'm psychologically conditioned to think this creature is unbeatable! It's affecting direct offensive applications of willpower!"

"_Why?_" Yuuno asked. "_I mean, it's just another giant monster! I've seen you throw them out of Tokyo practically every week!_"

"It's a cultural thing!" Nanoha said. "As someone born and raised here, I have problems seeing that thing as beatable!"

There was silence for a moment. Then Yuuno said, "_I'm not from here…_"

...

Yuuno looked at the giant thing speculatively. Behind him, on the robot-cum-transforming-train-car, several people stood crammed, surrounded by a protective bubble. Tuxedo Kamen stood looking resigned, while everyone was trying to get out of the way of the giant axe called Pringle-tan. Kazumi, Sayo in doll mode, Nodoka, Haruna, those two pale-haired lady friends of Kaleido Ruby's, Ku, Asuna, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Saturn and Sailor Moon, and Calculator were all huddled within as well, some on the roof of the car, while Calculator's robot maids hung underneath. It was creepy, how much they looked like the Wolkenritter. All the others had flown off in flying things of Paru-sama's creation. Yuuno wondered exactly how that book she used compared to his ring, but shook the thought out of his mind. Not the time.

Finally, he said, still quiet enough not to be overheard by the others, "I believe we need to change tactics, Nanoha-chan…"

"_Agreed…_" Nanoha said.

"I'll attack, you keep the others from getting killed and cover me. Meet you in five seconds at the most eastern edge of the barrier to switch."

"_Go._"

Yuuno turned to his charges, and green safety straps and individual protective field suddenly surrounded them all. "Change of plans!" he called out to the surprised group. "There might be some discomfort."

A moment later, they were making sonic booms.

Nanoha was already there when he came in with a trainful of screaming teenagers. She took hold of the train as Yuuno turned to consider the problem. He'd seen Nanoha fight kaiju often enough, usually with Big Science Action was busy with something else, and might not make it in time. She had him do it himself twice this month.

"DAMN IT!" Calculator cried. "Watch what you're doing, superhero!"

"I think I'm going to be sick…" Sailor Moon groaned. Nanoha provided a barf bag.

Yuuno was better with at using his ring for defensive purposes, redirection, containment. Really, the only aggressive things he knew were basic beams and chainsaws. He'd never been good at offensive magic either, though he knew how to defend himself. He was an archaeologist after all. He did, however, know people who were very good at it. Yuuno held out his hand, and green light formed into a familiar looking staff. Nanoha raised an eyebrow at him. He shrugged. "What? I want to do it right."

"He'll need a hat and a cape!" Tuxedo Kamen called out. Everyone stared at him. "What? I'm the only male here. Are any of you going to doubt my word about Magical Boy fashions?"

Yuuno snapped his fingers. "You know, I really need to get back to wearing those." A green fedora and a rather ragged-edged cloak and hood formed themselves around him. He pointed with his staff dramatically. "CHARGE!"

He streaked forward to attack, energy building up in front of his staff. "_DIVINE…_"

Antimatter plasma shot forward ahead of him, slamming into the Invader and detonating. They were slightly bigger now as Nanoha tweaked their size.

Yuuno lined up the shot as the green energy coalesced, aiming for the head. "_**BUSTER!**_" The emerald beam leapt forth, as thick as a house and blazing like the sun. The beast's tail whip around, the thing's balance shifting as it crouched. It slammed into the tail, and under its assault it began to come apart. The air in front of the beast's mouth began to warp.

"_Defensive Array 360!_" Yuuno cried, ceasing his attack, redirecting his energy into dozens of overlapping energy disks wrapped all around him. The kinetic blast shot at him, slamming into the leading construct of his shields. It shattered, but Yuuno ignored it as the attack splattered over the rest of his defenses. The wave front passed, and he quickly restructured the constructs, twisting it into a spike the size of a skyscraper. Blades erupted down its length as it spun, becoming a drill. He pushed forward at maximum power, the spike in the lead as he rammed straight into the tail. "Ring!" he ordered. "_Expand construct! All directions, maximum force!_"

The feedback crackled through his mind as the construct tried to do as ordered, to be met with the resistance of solid matter. Time seemed to slow. He firmed his will, imagining the result he wanted. The math flickered through his mind, density and material strength versus force being exerted. The pressure built, an eternity compressed into a moment, and he pushed on. The construct expanded, tearing apart the where it had been lodged, the end of the tail beginning to fall ponderously. He saw what few buildings standing shudder as the tip fell, already decaying into dark dust.

"Ring, forbidden construct 2!" Yuuno cried. "_**Starlight Beaker!**_"

A sky-tearing beam of light erupted from Yuuno's ring, slamming into the Invader at practically point-blank range. The impact tore huge chunk out of the creature, forcing it to stumble back, but it recovered, mouth opening to send a small shot that made Yuuno break off his attack to avoid it.

Time snapped back into place, and Yuuno became aware the sky was filled with little vehicles, all sending out magical fire. Arf and Fate flew together, gathering lightning between them, they, Sailor Jupiter and Negi striking from all directions. Valkyrie Black and Chrono were sniping, as if testing the vulnerability of targets. Sailor Mars, Sailor Venus and the rest of the Outers tried to attack the legs, but seemed to be having no effect. Its mass was just too great. He could hear a mild buzzing from his ring, and realized Nanoha had restructured her earpieces, probably at the urging or Sailor Mercury and Calculator.

All of a sudden, the idiocy of what he'd just done slammed into him. What was he doing? He'd charged in ring blazing and thought he could pull a Nanoha by hitting it with very big death beams. What was he thinking? Nearly everyone who knew her tore their hair out at such insane tactics, and here he was doing it himself! While his ring might be able to directly affect this thing, unlike Nanoha's, it was simply too big, and their combat area was too confined. He couldn't risk opening the barrier he'd raised for fear of letting it out and demolishing, even briefly, the real world, and anything he could create to effective harm this thing to a significant degree would like be too big to shield against and would kill everyone else within the barrier without a power ring. He was an archaeologist, for crying out loud! He was a scholar! He studied the enemy, disabled them, and generally countered what they were doing so more violent people could make things blow up.

_Well, then… _an annoyed-sounding part of his mind snarked at him. _Why don't you do that? What's the worse that could happen?_

_I could die! _he countered himself.

_And how is that any different from what could happen now?_

He had a point.

He pulled back, digging through his limited knowledge of the capabilities of the people around him. "Sailor Mercury! I need you! I need this thing analyzed! We've just been hammering at it and it's not doing anything, so we need to start fighting smart! I need an analysis!"

"_I was already working on one!_" Sailor Mercury said. "_Anything in particular?_"

"Weaknesses! Find me the core!" Yuuno said.

"_That thing is enormous!_" Sailor Mercury said. "_Cores are small! It will take forever!_"

"_Can you scan how dense that thing is?_" a sudden voice interrupted. Calculator.

"_I can, but why?_"

"_I was only watching, but I saw those core things. They're squishy. The rest of it can handle any punishment you throw at it. Cores are like glass. They're not as tough. Wouldn't a density comparison show that?" _A pause. "_Hey, don't you Baka Rangers look at me like that! I listen in class too, you know!_"

"_That could work…_" Sailor Mercury said. "_But even if we find it, we clearly need a new attack strategy! What we're doing is clearly only doing superficial damage!_"

"_WE NEED A GIANT COMBINING ROBOT!_" Haruna cried. "_IT'S OBVIOUS WE NEED TO BE REALLY RAMPED UP TO MAKE SO MUCH AS A DENT ON IT! I KNOW THIS TROPE! THE LITTLE FRY, NO MATTER–_"

"_Darn it, Paru, inside voice!_" Asuna cried.

"Sorry– _anyway, the small fry, no matter how ultimate their weapon, are only there to look bad until they finally decide to combine into their super robot! Everyone knows that! Honestly, I don't know why they don't just combine right away in the first place!_"

"_Idiot! We don't __**have**__ combining robots anymore! The Power Rangers went back to another universe, remember?_"

"_I miss Vivio-chan,_" Nanoha said wistfully.

Something in Yuuno's mind went _click._ "Guys…" he said, staring at the huge bulk. "I have an idea…"

...

They needed to move quickly, since they had to be constantly on the evasive. The Invader had incredibly sharp eyes for its size, and would attack them should they slow down enough to let it. It had altered itself, its legs becoming longer, more able to move quickly, looking vaguely birdlike. Nanoha had raged at that change, for some reason. They'd coordinated as best as they could, considering the personalities and numbers of people involved. Haruna had been able to create what he wanted, though barely. Nanoha had piled on the constructs around it, and it had felt awkward to see her in charge of protection, but unlike her attacks, her shields had managed to hold under assault. It needed to come together in one swift instant, no posing, no speeches, just instant assembly and attack.

Nanoha and Yuuno had torn apart what had once been several city block directly under the Invader, coating it with billions of tiny, ultra-fine balls that had actually managed to accomplish what they wanted and thrown the thing off balance, allowing them the grace period that had been needed.

"Paru-sama, NOW!" Yuuno cried.

Haruna's pen flashed through her book, and one could almost have expected a small thunder clap. "Paru-sama Special Prototype Combat Frame, come forth!"

The illustration burst from the pages in a rush, coming together around the assembled association as Nanoha and Yuuno frantically tried to keep Invader away with enormous shields, which it slowly began to batter down. The Frame came into being, a skeletal, spindly thing, arms and legs obviously too thin and long. It had several tiered semi-circles of seats for ribs, surrounding two central areas, one where the heart would be, another in the area of the center of mass. The forearms contained several spherical gimbals, each more than large enough for a person to stand in.

"GO!" Yuuno called to Nanoha as he let blast a sudden, blinding series of blasts. It was no Million Starlight Breaker Rain, the blasts consisting of slower, constant force, meant to drive the Invader back and unbalance it. Another handful of seconds won. Nanoha, to her credit, didn't hesitate, trusting her friend to survive as she streaked for the Frame, taking her place in the platform at the center of mass. Ku rushed to the palm of the left hand, while others seated themselves along the forearms and ribs. In the central plug at the heart, Leysritt stood, secured at the waist by a bungee cord arrangement while transponders hooked to her limbs. Nanoha thrust her ring upwards as the Frame began to move sluggishly, jerkily trying to mimic Leyritt's actions.

"_Special Prototype Combat Frame, Armor UP!_" Nanoha cried as light rushed forth from her ring. It quickly flowed over the Frame, passengers and all, covering them all in a sort of green light jelly. The Frame took on a humanoid appearance as the green energy covered it, looking like a giant marshmallow man. Then the energy contracted, tightening into defined constructs of enormous overlapping armor plates. Feet, fingers, arms and legs were formed.

"Full Frame coverage complete!" Sailor Mercury announced from where she was strapped on, her computer functioning as her terminal. She'd been put in charge of sensors. "Energy density holding! Construct plates are at full thickness!"

"Imperium Graphices Golem/Power Ring synchronization at 97 percent!" Calculator snapped from her own chair, her fingers clacking on holographic keyboards as she linked her laptop, Raging Heart, her maids, Meatbun Supreme's systems, and Chachamaru to form a rudimentary neural net. "Armoring construct is moving at same rate as Frame. Crap, when did I become a bridge bunny?"

"Construct movement and reaction well within estimated combat requirements," Chachamru announced from between Chisame and Sailor Mercury. "We are battle ready. United Magical Girl Association Super Combat Unit Evangelion Emerald is good to go."

Sailor Pluto groaned. "Again with the Evangelions. I've been fighting those since we got here! Why Evas?"

"It's iconic," Valkyrie Black said in her own chair. "That makes it easier for Green Lantern-chan to visualize for long periods of time."

"Shinji-san had such sadness in his eyes, but his strength allowed him to persist!" Green Lantern cried. "He never gave up, never surrendered, and fought to protect those he loved!"

Asuna blinked. "Are we talking the same Shinji here?"

"She only saw the Rebuild," Fate said.

"Ah. That explains it."

"This better not have a dummy system," Leysrritt said, raising an arm experimentally and closing it into a fist. Evangelion Emerald followed suit, its movements now smooth, quick and humanlike for its scale as giant construct muscles beneath construct armor plates identified and interpreted the action signals of the giant golem. Leysritt grinned.

"In position, aru!" Ku cried, lying down within the palm of the heavily armored left hand, her Pactio Card in hand, holding it out such that it was actually outside the armor.

"In position!" Sailor Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and Chrono cried from the left forearm.

"In position!" Fate, Arf, Negi, and Sailor Saturn all cried from the right forearm.

With a shriek like the world's biggest pane of glass breaking, the Invader finally charged through Yuuno's last barrier, the mountain-sized construct beginning to dissolve as Yuuno fell from the air, mind momentarily overloaded by feedback.

Beneath giant emerald feet, the ground was torn apart as the giant construct _leapt, _moving with relative human speed and reflexes. Scaled up to these proportions, those speeds were massive, the legs creating gales as Leysritt kicked off to meet the kaiju. They bent low, all the chairs rotating to accommodate the movement as they went nearly to all fours, getting beneath the Invader's charge and rising, catching it on their back. They _heaved_, their feet sinking deep into the earth and crushing the bedrock as they flipped the Invader over, sending it crashing. A hatch opened on the right forearm, revealing the people there in their gimbals.

"Ferret Lantern!" Nanoha cried. "In! Now!"

A streak of light rose from the ground, passing into the hatch and coming to rest in one of the seat. Yuuno secured himself, raising his own ring. "_Armaments, now!_"

"_Adeat!_" Ku cried, her card shifting into her Artifact on the palm of the giant hand. She concentrated, and the staff grew, lengthening and expanding as giant green fingers closed over it, until it was the perfect size for the robot, extending about an arm's length beyond the robot's height. Ku kept her hand on the staff through the small opening on the palm, wearing Nodoka's Reading Ear as it recited Leysritt's thoughts.

On the end of the now-giant magical staff, an enormous axe blade of green light of a slightly different color appeared. More armor snapped into place on the robot, resolving into drill spikes at elbows, knees and knuckles and other grapple contact points.

"MEET SUPER PRINGLE-TAN!" Leysritt cried as she charged, the enormous axe blade arcing overhead. It slammed into the back spines, the rear of the blade exploding, adding force to the impact and driving the edge in deeper. The Invader roared, swiping at them with its damaged tail. The staff spun nimbly in giant hands with a grace and dexterity that probably violated several laws of both physics and biology as Leysritt countered, the blade gaining a chainsaw's edge as it slammed into the tail with another explosion, severing it. The butt of the weapon suddenly extended, slamming into the Invader's face as it lined up. The impact, however, merely served to push the two beings apart slightly, instead of causing serious impact damage.

"It's no good!" Kotaro cried. "It's too big! We don't have the mass to move it! After all, this thing is mostly air."

"Maid-san!" Yuuno cried. "Close to grappling! Get the forearms to where we can hit it a pointblank range! Sailor Mercury, where's that core scan?"

"Still working on it!" Sailor Mercury cried. "There's a lot of mass to go through!"

Leysritt grinned, the axe disappearing as she charged in, right arm drawn back to punch. Green light whirled around it, and suddenly the limb ended not with a fist but with an enormous, building-sized drill. The ground quaked with each rapid footfall, and she leapt the last five body-lengths, slamming the drill head with the full force of gravity as well as momentum if not mass. The Invader trembled slightly, its mass absorbing the blow even as they began to tear through several meters of its flesh.

Behind the drill, the armor slid back, revealing the people all strapped into the forearm.

"_Hekatontakis Kai Kiliakis Astrapsato!" _Negi incanted as he fired directly in front of him. _"Killipl Astrape!"_

"_Plasma Smasher!_" Fate and Arf shouted.

"_Antimatter Plasma Shot!_" Yuuno screamed out.

"_Silence Glaive Surprise!_" Sailor Saturn cried before them all.

At that range the near-silent rush of energy tore through the beast's hide, no longer so dispersed, breaking through the super-dense outer covering and revealing the slightly less dense matter beneath. The lightning attacks ran rampant, superheating the matter and causing them to explode as the arm was withdrawn, the entire robot twisting, hastily bringing up a shield as the antimatter plasma detonated. The explosion blasted the robot back, and they nearly lost control, sliding along the ground before they recovered. The Invader wasn't so lucky, getting knocked of its feet. Tons of anthropomorphic evil crashed down on its side.

Leysritt was on it in an instant, one arm raised. That arm morphed, a thick sheaf of several giant buzzsaws extending from the hand as it descended, tearing at the thing. Black dust flew as the blades cut, but the Invader twisted, tearing out the saws and making Yuuno wince at the feedback. Its head clamped down their left arm, and there were cries as several people found themselves trapped in a giant mouth. They could see dozens of blank, sunglass-wearing faces in orderly rows all along the mouth, the faces of the individual invaders that comprised the creature.

The air began to shimmer as the thing prepared another kinetic blast. Frantically, Leysritt tried to pry the mouth open with the other hand.

"We're all going to die," Sailor Jupiter said mutely.

"No one is going to die!" Chrono cried. Those with him gave him a withering look.

"Boy, we've already been killed more than our fair share. Trust me when I say we're going to die,_" _Sailor Jupiter said, Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus nodding in agreement.

"Raging Heart, cartridge load!" Nanoha cried, her Device expelling shells. "Point-blank range fire! Full power!"

"_Ma'm you really don't have to do that just because the motorized phallic sexual entertainment object does it,_" Ring-chan said.

"Green Lantern-chan?" Asuna called down from the ribs.

The torso's armor plates moved, and Nanoha found herself facing the back of the head. She leveled her staff, light gathering around it as she aimed. The armor on the right forearm drew back as well, and Yuuno raised his ring, adding his shielding abilities to Nanoha's own to protect those on the left arm.

"_Axel…!_" she cried, "_BUSTER!_"

"_Pull back the arm! Pull back the arm!_" Yuuno cried.

Leystritt set her feet, crying out as a giant pink beam of death erupted from their torso, tearing through the kaiju's head. Both Nanoha and Yuuno cried as her beam slammed into the armor plating on the left arm, but Leysritt was able to rip it out of the path of the beam before the armor failed, leaping from the creature's back as the beam expended itself.

"See?" Chrono said faintly, finally knowing what it was like to be on the receiving end of one of Nanoha's blasts. "We didn't die."

"The day is young," Sailor Uranus said.

"Core found!" Sailor Mercury cried out! "At least, I've picked up a density anomaly that might be the core! It's buried deep in the lower body, right at the center of mass! "

"That's too deep!" Yuuno said. "Anything we use to pierce that far in will kill us all!"

"May I make a suggestion?" Tuxedo Kamen said.

He did.

"_ARE YOU INSANE?_" Calculator cried, and she wasn't alone.

"Prince, that is very ill advised," Sailor Pluto said.

"_I'M GOING TO DIE A VIRGIN!_" Sailor Venus wailed. "_**AGAIN!**_"

Sailor Saturn took the hands of a surprised Negi. "Magus Erebus-kun… if we don't make it… I want you to take me now and make me a wo–"

"_**HANDS OFF, BITCH!**_" nearly all of Ala Alba and the rest of the Senshi cried, including a surprised Nodoka.

"We have no other choice!" Yuuno said, though in retrospect it would become apparent they did. "It's the best way to get that deep!"

"I have a spell that can be used for such a narrow opening!" Fate volunteered. "But I need to get it ready! Green Lantern, I need you to begin routing atmospheric ionization to me!"

"Good!" Yuuno said. "Maid-san, Tuxedo Kamen-sama, switch out! Green Lantern, maximize the armor on the right side. Reaper, prepare your spell!"

"Bardiche, shooting mode!" Fat cried, and tee Device shifted, growing slim, firefly-like wings.

"_Gathering ions,_" it said, and the right forearm began to crackle with static electricity as a ball of light appeared at the end of the Device. "_Expending all remaining cartridges._" There were three explosions.

Tuxedo Kamen finished slipping into the control plug, dodging as the now-headless Invader continued to attack, flailing wildly. A visor appeared over his eyes, giving him the view from the Evangelion's 'head'. He raised his hand as if in a fencer's salute. "Ready!"

"Creating construct!" Yuuno announced. "_Antimatter Blade!_"

A weapon appeared in the right hand, a long, slim blade that tapered into a needle-like tip, the outer casing filled with vents. It began to fill with plasma. With an effort of will, Yuuno reversed the polarities of all the subatomic particles contained inside the blade as Tuxedo Kamen leaned back slightly, weight on their rearmost leg.

"Target locked!" Sailor Mercury announced.

"Readying payload!" Fate replied.

"_Lunge!_" Nanoha ordered.

With a cry, Tuxedo Kamen set the Evanglion in motion, movements precise and practiced. One step, two, three, and then he leapt, point forward to drive all the energy into the tip of the sword. The blade made contact, and the tip of the construct dissolved. Matter met antimatter in annihilation, the expanding energies flowing through the vents as Yuuno simultaneously tried to contain the enormous release of destructive energies and continue generating antimatter as the needle-like blade continued to penetrate deeper and deeper, not cutting but removing matter in its way.

The hilt of the weapon slammed into the kaiju, and Sailor Mercury announced, "Tip penetrated to within two meters of core!"

"_**Reaper-chan!**_" Nanoha cried as the right forearm peeled back, all armor removed, its occupants, save Fate and Yuuno, rushing up the arm to safety.

Fate gripped her Device, and for a moment remembered–

_"Fate-chan!" Nanoha said on bended knee, looking seriously up at Fate. "Will you train me in magic?"_

_Fate blinked, while a small part of her brain wailed about the question not being 'Will you marry me?'. "W-what?"_

_Nanoha looked intently up at her as Ala Alba paused slightly in their beachwear-clad training in kendo, unarmed combat and magic. "You're more familiar with the style of magic we use. Raging Heart can give me the basics, but she and Yuuno aren't very good with coming up with new spells. I've only ever made up three. The two forms of Starlight Breaker, and a fast-release shooting spell I haven't been able to test properly yet. But you know all sorts of tricks, like that Phalanx shift thing where you let out a lot of blasts! So I was wondering if you could teach me that? And maybe other things?"_

…

"_Wah! Thanks for helping me work out the kinks from Divine Danmaku, Fate-chan!" Nanoha said, smiling. _

"_N-no problem, Nanoha," Fate said, feeling the combined warm fuzzy feeling of being able to teach, Nanoha's gratitude and seeing the other girl in a swim suit bouncing up and down. _

"_Now it's my turn!" Nanoha announced. "I'm going to teach youthe basics of my first original spell, Fate-chan! I'm going to show you how to do Starlight Breaker…"_

– and now they were here. Nanoha had taught her, and Fate had marveled at what this girl had wrought. She'd applied the knowledge to what she knew, to her expertise with lightning. Linith would have been proud.

Fate stepped forward next to Yuuno, as pointing Bardiche down into the now-hollow and empty core of the sword. "_Gather, fire from the skies!_" she intoned as magic and ions began to gather around her. The static rich air began to crackle with small bolts of electricity that arced towards Fate, gathering in the ball of energy at Bardiche's tip, beginning to grow quickly, fueled both by magic and natural airborne ions from all the lightning spells cast. Energy crackled along the spell's surface. "_Scream across the void of clouds, and tear through what lies in your path!_"

"Energy containment field, set!" Yuuno announced, as a magnetic field generated within the barrel of the sword.

"_**Ionic Piercer!**_"

What leapt forth from the spell wasn't lightning. It was to lightning what an amoeba was to a god: not just what it wanted to grow up to be, but what all its descendants across millennia will try to evolve into, breaking several physical laws in the process. It leapt forth, screaming up the barrel, barely held in check by mere magnetics as it burrowed itself deep within the kaiju. It reached the end.

There was a roar to equal all the antimatter explosions to date as the other side of the kaijuu exploded, the spell tearing through and it blasting apart the earth on the other side. The beast shuddered and collapsed, beginning to deteriorate as the core was destroyed.

For a moment, silence descended. Everyone stared at the destruction.

The Haruna began grin, letting out a victorious whoop. "Tan tan tan tan-tan tun, TANTANAN!" she cried, mangling the Final Fantasy victory theme. "Hot damn! WE DID IT!"

"Reaper-chan did it!" Nanoha joined it. "She used _that_ spell! That was GREAT!"

"Yay, Reaper-chan!" Arf cried, punching the air. The air was knocked out.

"PARTY!" Kazumi cried, and the call was quickly taken up.

And suddenly the cries came from all directions as they celebrated, hugging each other and causing a minor scuffle to break out as people tried to be the first to hug Negi.

At the right forearm, Fate collapsed to her knees, shaking, vision blurring slightly from the effort of the spell. A hand came to rest on her shoulder, and she looked up. Yuuno smiled down at her.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

She nodded shakily as people began rushing to where they were. "Yeah."

He nodded. "That was amazing. Congratulations. You did it." Fate suddenly found herself enfolded in a congratulatory hug.

Smiling, she hugged him back.

...

As the sun set over Fuyuki, Nanoha couldn't help but glance towards Mount Enzo, where another battle had taken place. She hadn't gotten the full story yet, but she'd gotten a promise from those involved for a full report as soon as they could. She took control of the bubble on this flight home. Most people were asleep or dozing, though grumbled comments from Calculator and Sailor Mars indicated this wouldn't stop them from partying all night when they finally got back. It was a pity she wouldn't be able to join them, but she needed to get back home.

As Nanoha piloted them back to their places of origin, Chrono sat facing the green-hued sunset, mind already on the cluster-f&$ck of a report he'd have to file, as well as other matters. Next to him, Arf and Fate slept, exhausted from the spell. He heard Yuuno settle down next to him, and for once didn't needle the other mage.

"Well?" the other boy said softly.

"Amy was able to beam me the information when I called," Chrono said softly. "She confirms your findings. Admiral Graham has been skimming minute funds and redirecting it to something he calls 'Project Durandal'. And the Lotte twins apparently know more about the Book of Darkness than they let on. They were seen checking out the books you mentioned. We've found a monetary account to someone in Uminari in his name, though we don't know who yet."

"You think he knows more about the Book of Darkness than he's letting on?" Yuuno asked.

"I don't know," Chrono said wistfully. "Mother is putting together the warrants for us to find out."

In another part of the transport, Nodoka shyly approached Tuxedo Kamen, who was sitting slightly apart from the Senshi, starring down at the ground. The Senshi had said they were too tired to teleport right then. "Excuse me, Tuxedo Kamen-sama?"

He looked up at her, smiling politely, but not really interested. "Yes?"

Nodoka gulped, and drew out her Artifact. "I think you should read this. It's about someone we met in the city named 'Gilgamesh'."

Tuxedo Kamen frowned, as if the name rung a bell, but took the book and begun to read. His eyes went wide, and he hastily skimmed through the pages, and Nodoka noted he was looking intently at the pages in the language that couldn't be identified. Finally, he looked up at her. "Is this true? Where did you get this?"

Nodoka gulped. "My Artifact reads and displays a person's thoughts. These are the thoughts of someone we met in the city, sent by Kaleido Ruby to help us. Sailor Moon was there, she can tell you. Do they mean anything?"

Tuxedo Kamen looked like he'd been kicked by a horse. "Yes…" he said faintly. "Yes, they definitely mean something…"

...

Bruce Wayne stared up at battle-scared remains of his Japanese corporate headquarters and sighed. "I'm never coming to Japan again…"

...

**- The War Is Coming To An End…...**

...

A/N: Putting Batman in _this_ early was a mistake. I realize that now…

Divine Emerald Bombardment: The Original Basis for Divine Danmaku. Thousands of energy balls.

Negi currently beat Fate in raw lightning volume output. Thousand bolts, is, after all, an Anti-_Army_ spell, and seems to be the same spell that was used in the trap Canis Niger used on Setsuna and Kaede. Sailor Jupiter's attacks are more concentrated, meaning she can technically hit harder than Negi and Fate, but both outdo her in volume. So Negi's is currently the king of lightning spells among the Modern magic users (not counting Hayate and Sakura– both of them) for the moment…

And Fate now has a new top-tier spell.

Nanoha and Yuuno probably aren't the first to use antimatter as a method of attack. Their rings know how to handle it such that there isn't any messy residue, as well as what is needed to contain the blasts. I was torn between this ending, and Yuuno setting off a fission reaction in the Invader. It went with this because it let Fate shine. Gotta spread the awesome around, after all.

Sorry, no spoilers for the results of Fate/Holy Grail War. Have to work on it now. Will hopefully be up soon.

The _**Nanoha A's **_action finally continues next chap! Be there and remember: _**REVIEWS AND TvTROPES-PAGE UPDATES MAKE REVIEW WHORE AUTHORS WORK FASTER!**_

Please review, C&C welcome.

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	22. Christmas Eve: The Beginning Of The End

A/N: At last, after weeks on Fate, that's one's finished, and we're back here. I believe that's all that needs to be said.

Takamachi Nanoha of 2818… Begins now…

...

Takamachi Nanoha of 2814

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 22: The Linker Cores War, Part 12: Christmas Eve: The Beginning Of The End

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story. If I did… well, this would all be canon. WARNING: MAY CAUSE HEAD EXPLOSION!

...

_It was such a strange time…_

_So many simple wishes coming together…_

_Dreams of happiness, of joy, of smiles…_

_How could they all lead to this? _

_The soldier of emerald, defending her charge…_

_The red knight, seeking her beloved's eternal smile…_

_The black one of the blades, who has seen the wheels of fate turning…_

_The princesses of the celestial lights, guarding their home…_

_The wings of white, with their little courage…_

_The key of stars, the wolf and the madwoman, bound by ties light as silk, strong as steel…_

_My queen most beloved, who wished for so little, and must pay so much…_

_Let our story be told…_

...

In Uminari University Hospital, three people chatted.

"–and then Green Lantern-chan helped Rising Sun-san to burn out the algae growth out of Tokyo Bay!" Nanoha finished.

Hayate was nothing if not an appreciative audience, clapping her hands. "Oh, wow! You sure know a lot about Green Lantern-chan, Nanoha-chan!"

Nanoha shrugged bashfully, a small, self-conscious smile on her face. "Well, you know… I'm a bit of a Green Lantern otaku. I'm not ashamed of it!" she declared defiantly, clenching her fist and looking sternly upwards at some invisible audience. Hayate just laughed.

Shamal's laughter was a bit more hesitant. While she was glad the Nanoha seemed to have taken a shine to Hayate, spending many hours with the other girl, she really wished she talked about something other than Green Lantern. The knight found it uncomfortable, though she hid it from Nanoha.

Since that 'incident' at Fuyuki, Nanoha had been spending more time with Hayate, partly because she found the girl to be genuinely nice and she never passed up an opportunity to make friends with someone, and partly give her ring more opportunities to perform scans. Perhaps a general quick field-surgery scan wasn't enough. After all, if she'd accidentally brought extra terrestrial bacteria, there might be microscopic nerve damage, advanced nano-civilizations colonizing Hayate's spinal cord, or possibly multi-prion organisms strip-mining her mitochondria! It had been known to happen.

There was a knock on the door, and a pink-haired nurse entered. "Visiting hours are almost over, Nanoha-chan," she said, smiling kindly. "It'll be dark soon."

"All right, Tsukino-san!" Nanoha chirped, smiling at Hayate apologetically. "Sorry, Hayate-chan, but I need to leave if I'm to get home in time for dinner."

Hayate smiled, though there was a bittersweet sadness to her eyes, and it took all Nanoha's considerable Willpower not to break down right then and give her a big hug. "I understand. Go. I wouldn't want to make you miss dinner with your family."

Oh, what the heck.

Hayate blinked in surprise as Nanoha gave her a hug. Smiling, she hugged back, and Nanoha pretended not to notice the tension in the others girl's chest, tried not to let on she knew Hayate was in pain…

...

_23/12_

Vita panted on the surface of the alien world. Blood dripped from her hands, her gloves torn, the skin beneath rubbed raw. All about her, enormous worm-like creatures lay fallen, unmoving. Behind her, the Book of Darkness floated, hovering on its own power. That was convenient at least.

After… after the battle against the strange man who had called himself Archer, after they'd been shocked back into sensibility, the Wolkenritter had changed tactics yet again. For one, they'd resolved to stay _well_ away from the local mages. The damage they'd taken during the fight had been extensive. It was actually amazing they _hadn't_ been vaporized at least twice during the battle. Vita's subsequent trawls through the internet had revealed at least two flashes of light that had been visible from space at the time and location of their encounter.

They'd fallen back on this earlier idea of 'farming' from creatures with active linker cores, on the quite sound basis that this meant they were far, _far_ from that loony bin filled to the gills with ridiculously overpowered yet somehow unacknowledged mages. Vita found this _quite_ a good upshot.

So far, they'd managed, between the three of them, to harness a grand total of 89 pages. The now massively slower rate was aggravating, but given the heightened state of alert Earth's mages seemed to have moved into after their attack on Fuyuki, any attempt to harness from _them_ would have now led to potential defeat and likely diminishing returns. They were all now moving in groups, as if _daring_ the knights to attack. Naturally, they hadn't.

Sighing, Vita launched herself into the air in search of more prey, the Book following her, its lines glowing a pale red…

...

Amy knocked, making the two boys working at the computer jerk in surprise. "Hey. I was wondering if you two wanted dinner."

Yuuno and Chrono looked up from the computer displays they were perusing, the librarian with his own set of emerald displays hovering around him. "Um, I'm good, Amy-san," Yuuno said, moving a couple of displays aside.

Chrono didn't answer, turning back, scanning rapidly. Amy didn't take offense, walking up to them. "The evidence for the warrant?"

Yuuno nodded. "Admiral Graham has been searching for the Book of Darkness these past few years, since the last incident. When I went through the Infinity Library, I noticed that many of the books on the Bo–, er, the subject in question had previously been checked out by the Lieze twins."

Next to him, Chrono tensed, but didn't respond.

"It made me suspicious, especially since they claimed to know nothing about it," Yuuno continued. "I had my suspicions, so during the following visits to the Headquarters, I accessed their systems."

"With _my_ authorization codes," Chrono growled. He glared at Yuuno. "That's impersonating an officer, Scrya! I should have you arrested!"

"You can't prove it wasn't you," Yuuno said , and Amy giggled. "Besides, you're looking at the same stuff now!"

Chrono made a derisive sound. Actually, it was a full on sentence, and had 'archaeologists' in it somewhere.

"Anyway, I found some minor fiscal anomalies. They're small, ranging from 5 to a hundred credits, but they're been spread out over the last eleven years," Yuuno continued. "All together, they come up to a decent sum. There was also something called 'Project: Durandal' stared a few years ago that, strangely, _had_ no budget to support it. I suspect that's where all the money's been going. There have also been legal money transfers from the Admiral's account to an account I managed to trace to Japan, though I haven't been able to pinpoint exactly where."

Amy frowned. "Why is that suspicious?"

"All his family lives in England. Who'd he be sending money to?" Yuuno pointed out. "I think he might be paying for surveillance. He might be tracking the Book of Darkness–"

"In which case he has a lot to answer for," Chrono said.

There was an uncomfortable silence.

"We'll be able to find out more once we get the warrant," Yuuno said. "If he _has_ been tracking the Book, he'd likely have the logs somewhere."

Another uncomfortable silence.

"Oh, yeah, I've been meaning to ask," Yuuno said, now sounding a bit too perky. "The civilian who was attacked in Fuyuki, I forget his name... How's he doing?"

Amy tapped her chin. "Oh, Shinji Matou-san! He's still unconscious, though the doctors say his Linker Core seems to be healing up well. It's quite fortunate it's undeveloped, otherwise it might have been seriously damaged. As it is, they believe the attack might actually have awakened his latent talent." Amy cringed slightly, as if hearing herself speak. "I know I shouldn't sound so glad, but to find a gifted mage like him…"

"It's not like Earth isn't seemingly overflowing with 'gifted' mages," Yuuno pointed out. "I'm still wondering how you missed it all."

"Maybe someone decided they didn't want all these crazy Earth people in our ranks," Chrono said. He was still glaring at the displays.

"Hey!" Yuuno protested. "Those are some of my good friends you're talking about!"

...

Berserker watched, silent, invisible and intangible, as the Einzbern household made preparations for Christmas.

This had mainly involved Sella running around everywhere like a madwoman and trying to put up all the decorations herself while yelling at Leysritt to move her lazy ass, all the while bemoaning how behind they'd become because of "THAT STUPID WAR!", Shiro trying to help and being berated by the homunculus maid for "not behaving as the eldest son of the household should", Illya and Kuro in rabid competition to bake the best cake, since Kuro was in one of her competitive moods as opposed to her lustful moods, Kiritsugu trying his best to stay out of the way and Iris getting underfoot as she did her thing.

The only other zone of peace was the blonde-haired woman who sat by the window, staring out into space. She'd taken to wearing the dark suits Iris had kept for her rather than the more feminine blouses and skirts that had later been bought and which she'd seemed to favor near the end of the war. Most of the time she was listless, though she was helpful enough when someone gave her a direct order to do something. Shiro spent a lot of time with her, trying to pull her out of her shell, but except for monosyllabic responses that ranged from listless to barely polite, he wasn't getting anywhere.

The door burst open, and Rin and Luvia stomped in, looking barely civil, both bearing a gifts. Said gifts looked like they'd only been recently wrapped, and two were labeled for Shiro. The other one Rin carried had the card turned over. Lancer and Assassin followed close behind, each bearing more gifts of dubious thoughtfulness, the technically-Irish Servant muttering about Roman Holidays that made no sense. Sakura and Rider followed behind at a more sedate pace, the load more evenly distributed among them. "Onee-chan, behave! We're guests here!"

Rin ignored her sister as she and Luvia both shoved a present into Shiro's face. "Merry Christmas!" they both shouted, glaring at each other. Shiro looked between them nervously, then jumped as they directed their glares at him when he didn't take the gifts. He gingerly accepted them, looking frazzled.

"Um, thank you," he said, moving to take them under the tree.

"Ohohohohoho!" Luvia laughed, daintily laughing behind the back of her hand. "I'm _sure_ you'll appreciate it more than Rin's. Only the best for my Minister Magi!"

"So speaks the virgin," Rin sniped.

As Shiro reddened and tried to slink off, Luvia and Rin got into a hair-pulling fight. They'd learned their lesson about using magic to argue in the Emiya house after Iris had given them a time-out with her alchemy. Apparently the marks _still_ haven't disappeared.

Sakura just sighed, and helped the three Servants– or whatever they were now– put the presents under the tree. She could still feel Rider, feel the woman tethered to her, but somehow, she knew that tether wasn't needed. After the battle at Ryuudou…

It had been confusing. They'd all awoken to find the 4th Caster, Kuro and Archer gone, splattered all over with some white fluid that had screamed at her senses for their sheer power. In a way, it felt as _wrong_ viscous liquid that had exuded from the corrupted Grail had, but it _hadn't _felt malevolent. It had just… _been_. And then they'd found Saber, disconnected from any Master, bereft of mana… yet still _there_. Shiro hadn't asked any questions, had just been glad she'd been all right, but others had wondered. Even now, they still didn't know what happened to the woman, but it had later become apparent that it had also happened to all the other Servants. Lancer and Rider had found they could no longer change to spiritual form. They still connected to their Masters, they no longer seemed to need an anchor to this existence.

All Servants…save one. Berserker had somehow avoided whatever it a s that had changed them, or perhaps hadn't been included in it. Attempts to interrogate the hulking Servant had been unproductive, at best, and had risked cardiac arrest at worst.

In the end, the end of the War had led to still more questions. Kuro had reappeared later that night, claiming she had watched the sunset with Archer and had bidden him goodbye. She'd been crying as she said it, though she hadn't seemed to notice. Any attempts to get her to talk hadn't worked out too well either. She had commented on their Servant's condition however, offering the theory that they had somehow been 'infused' in the same way as Gilgamesh had been at the end of the last war, somehow granting them material existence.

It was partially this reticence that was the cause of the current competitiveness between the two 'twins'. Gilgamesh had disappeared, though comments from Miyu said the man was still keeping in touch with her for some reason. It was unlikely he would sill be able to stay at the Church with Kirei gone.

As Sakura sat, watching as her sister and Luvia glared at each other and tried to insinuate themselves into the Einzbern sisters' bake-off, she wondered when they would all start trying to answer these questions. And whether the answers were even available to be found. She was sure that, once Luvia and Rin had settled back down to normalcy that they would begin trying to learn what all this meant. Both had managed to obtain a sample of the white liquid, sealed and preserved. And probably Caster would try to do so as well, might even be doing so even then. After all, until Ryuudou was repaired, she didn't exactly have much to do in the way of wedding plans. Many people tended to underestimate the power of boredom as a motivator.

She could feel the emptiness inside her, wanting, needing to be filled. Yes. She would have her own research to do as well. She'd never needed to, before. What would it be like, needing to actually _learn_ your magic for the rest of your life? Beneath her, the shadows shivered.

And silent, invisible and intangible, Berserker watched…

...

Negi held the phone to his ear, wincing at the barrage of words. "Anya, it's not that I don't want to go home, but we're really busy here!" There was a barrage of louder words, and he drew the phone from his ear slightly. "Anya, it has nothing to do with breasts! What do breasts have to do with anything anyway?"

Sitting cross-legged on at the table reading an Overmaster doujin about 31 psychotic clowns and their dad, Asuna snickered slightly, reflecting that for all his maturity, Negi was still clueless enough to get his foot caught in his mouth in casual conversation. She watched in amusement as Negi held the phone a little bit farther from his ear. Even at this distance, Asuna could hear the red-haired girl at the other end of the line ranting.

Abruptly, the voice cut off, and Negi carefully held it closer to his ear… only for a _different_ voice to come in through the line, just as loudly as the first. Even from all the way where she was sitting, Asuna recognized it. "Hey, Nagi!" she called.

"Um…" Negi said, awkwardly trying to talk. "Hello, father. Asuna says hi…" He listened for a moment, and blushed. "I can't say that!" More listening. Finally, he reluctantly turned to Asuna. "He wants to know if you've had your nappies changed for today."

She rolled her eyes. While she was glad they'd finally found him in the pulse-pounding adventure that she wouldn't get into here, she was also glad he didn't live anywhere _near_ Mahora. "Has your mother slapped him yet?"

Negi listened. "Yes," he said.

"Give me the phone," Asuna said, putting down her doujin and bouncing towards him. Negi handed her the phone. "Hey, Nagi, can you put me on speaker phone? Okay, good. The reason Negi can't come home right now is because we're involved in another magical incident. Wizard knights from space are going around ripping out people's magic, and we have to help stop them. Oh, only four, but they managed to take down Negi, so they're tough. No, they didn't strip naked and use his shock to kick him in the crotch. Arika-neechan, could you?" SLAP! "Thanks! Anyway, we need to stay on call because they could strike again at any moment. Plus there's this Nasurian magus we know who somehow managed to form a Pactio, and Negi's promised to help them sort it out, since the guy's Artifact seems pretty powerful. Sorry." She listened as Negi boggled at her, and she nodded. "All right Arika-nee-chan." She handed the phone back to him. "Your mother wants to talk to you."

Negi nervously took back the phone, hesitantly putting it to his ear. "Hello, mother?"

Asuna sighed as Negi began talking to Arika in the slightly stilted, a touch overly formal way they did. While there was no doubt that the woman loved the boy and Negi practically worshipped the ground she walked on, Asuna and most of the people that knew them really wanted to slap sense into their heads.

Cocone stuck her head into the room, wearing an apron that read "Kiss the Loli Chef". "Dinner will be ready soon," she said, voice soft.

"Thanks Cocone-chan!" Asuna said. "Sorry for barging in like this, but we needed a place to hide. We'll leave when it gets dark enough to jump from roof to roof."

The dark-skinned girl nodded. "Are they still looking for him?"

Right on cue, the hunting cry of the Yukihiro Ayaka echoed in from outside. "_Ne-gi-senseiiiiii! _"

"Never mind," Cocone said.

Negi put down the phone wistfully, looking up at the cry. "I don't feel right hiding like this. What if Iincho realy needs me?"

"Negi, do you really want to risk losing your job because you let people find you to ask you for a date on Christmas?" Asuna said.

Negi thought about it. "So, how long before dark?"

...

"Hmm…" Makoto said, staring at the blond man who was talking to Mamoru and Usagi a few tables away.

"What?" Minako asked.

"Astonishingly…" Makoto said. "I think I've finally met a hot guy who _doesn't_ look like my old sempai."

"Well, statistical probability says it had to happen eventually," Ami said.

Rei was frowning. "He kinda looks familiar… I swear he looks like someone I know. I just can't remember who."

"Haruka?" Minako suggested.

Michiru peered at him. "No… he's not pretty enough."

Haruka smiled, nuzzling her lover's ear. "That's always nice to hear…"

"Haruka-papa, as I'm sitting here, can you give me a moment to move over so you don't accidentally grope my ass again?" Hotaru said.

Haruka blushed, moving slightly back as Michiru looked at their housemate. "You know, I'm perfectly capable of whipping my girl all by myself, thank you."

"I know, Michiru-mama, but I really don't want Haruka-papa accidentally cited for molesting a minor."

"Gilgamesh…" Rei kept on musing, having learned from long experience it was best to just keep her own train of thought chugging in this sort of mixed company. "What kind of a name is 'Gilgamesh'?"

"It sounds American," Minako suggested.

"Mesopotamian," Haruka corrected. **"**Gilgamesh was the fifth king of Uruk who supposedly ruled for 126 years. He's the central character in the _Epic of Gilgamesh,_ the greatest surviving work of early Mesopotamian literature. In the epic his father was Lugalbanda and his mother was the goddess Ninsun. In Mesopotamian mythology, Gilgamesh was a demigod of superhuman strength who built the city walls of Uruk to defend his people from threats, and traveled to meet the sage Utnapishtim, who had survived the Great Deluge."

Everyone turned to Haruka in surprise, Ami's mouth hanging open, probably about to provide the same information.

Haruka shrugged. "What? I pick up random things. I heard this from one of the writers on the set of Kamen Rider, that time they asked me to do a cameo as 'Kamen Rider Sora'."

Makoto patted Ami as the girl closed her mouth, pouting. "Don't worry Ami-chan. You're still primary exposition girl around here."

Minako frowned. "Wait, Ami-chan goes around naked?"

"No, that's 'exhibition'," Michiru corrected. "'Exposition' is telling people plot-relevant information."

Beneath the table, Artemis and Luna exchanged looks over their newspaper.

"I'd say our girls are growing up…" Artemis said hesitantly. "But I don't want to jinx it."

Luna nodded in agreement. "So, did you find anything more on Supergirl?"

Artemis tugged a page, flipping it with practiced difficulty to foreign news. A slightly grainy black and white picture of a girl in a skirt short enough to make the Senshi proud and a top tight enough to make them jealous. They both stared at the image.

"Kryptonian," Luna mused. "The last living _female_ Kryptonian…"

...

"Here we are, everyone!" Momoko announced.

Nanoha's father peered at the food. "It sure looks good," he said, pride in his wife's cooking skills radiating from his voice. There were salads, soups, breads baked in their own ovens, and other such tasty treats. After enduring the slightly bland and wilted fare that was the best Amy, who in her own words wasn't much of a cook, could make, interspersed with instant food from the supermarket that always seemed either too spicy, too salty, or some strange seafood flavor, and various brands of takeout and delivery, the sight of all that expertly prepared food had Fate's mouth watering.

"Fate-chan, please help yourself as much as you'd like," Momoko said.

_I've died, _Fate thought. _I've died, and this is paradise…_ "Y-yes… THANK YOU VERY MUCH!"

Still Fate's mother had raised her… no wait, wrong-o. Er, Fate's mother's _familiar _had taught her to be a polite girl, which was the only thing keeping her from grabbing bowl of soup and stuffing her face. Nanoha handed her a plate, and with all the restraint she could muster, Fate served herself and began to eat.

…

She immediately came to the conclusion that Nanoha was _really_ weird. This stemmed from the resolution that if Fate had food like this every day, she'd already weight 200 pounds. She could hear Arf under the table, chewing the meat she'd been given with satisfaction.

"So, Fate-chan," Shiro said, being a polite host. "Will you be spending Christmas with your family this year?"

"Yes," Fate said, taking a sip of her soup. _Oh, Sankt Kaiser…_ "I guess you can say that. In fact, my cousin Yuuno is arriving tomorrow. I'll introduce you to him."

"Yuuno?" Miyuki said, blinking. "He has the same name as Yuuno-kun?"

"Yes," Fate nodded, taking a small bite of bread. _Take me now, so I go happy…_ "It was something of a joke."

"Well, I'm glad you'll be able to be with your cousin, Fate-chan," Kyouya said.

"It'll be another brutal Christmas Eve for us," Shiro said, sighing slightly, though it was the sigh of a man expecting a load of work he nonetheless found worthwhile.

"I'll make the price tags and put together the pop-up boxes tonight!" Nanoha said enthusiastically.

"Please," Miyuki said, her fists clenching in enthusiasm. "We'll need a good night's sleep tonight to prepare for the rush."

At Fate's clueless look, Nanoha explained. "Christmas Cakes at the Midori-ya. They're really popular, so we always have lots of customers on Christmas Eve."

"And for those who spend Christmas Eve with their lovers or friends, we stay open a lot later than usual," Miyuki added. She smiled sideways at her brother. "It must be nice for you, Kyou-chan! Since you'll be working together with Shinobu-san _all_ day at the store!"

"That has nothing to do with anything," Kyouya said, looking sideways right back at her. "Besides, _you'll_ be there too!"

"Aw!" Miyuki purred, glomping onto Kyouya's arm. "Doesn't onii-chan want me?"

"Now, now you two," Momoka chided, laughing.

...

"_No! We're running out of time!_

"_It won't stop regenerating!"_

"_Freezing it isn't enough!"_

"_It's using Negica Magia Erebea! Switch to mass attacks! Someone disrupt the circle!"_

_Bind it! Bind it! Green Lantern-chan, keep it in place!_

"_I'm trying!"_

"_Need… more… Mana! Can't… use Unlimited…"_

"_Kuro! Some catcher her"_

"_I've got her Illya-chan!"_

"_Hit it with everything we've got! More Dakka!"_

"_I'm out of ordinance! I knew I should have put in more of the nukes!"_

"_**No!**__ We're so __**close! **__My Berserker __**will**__ have JUSTICE!"_

"_**KURO! STOP MOLESTING MIYU-CHAN!"**_

"_**This is for Archer nii-sama, bitch!"**_

"_We need more time!"_

"_Princess…"_

"_NO! Don't you __**dare!**__"_

"_As you all say, we need more time…"_

"_**NO! **__I'm __**ordering**__ you, __**NO**__!"_

"_Good bye…"_

"_Stop her!"_

"_Time… Stop…"_

"_PLUTO!"_

The dream again. She tried to wake, tried to push the images away, but they held her gaze, as they always did when she did not dream of the robed man who sounded and felt strangely familiar.

_An enormous sphere of blackness, descending upon a dead city…_

_A monstrous creature, wielding power, facing a boy that crackled like lightning itself. _

_Three girls, trapped in a void of darkness, dreaming…_

_A single, shining star, blazing with endless light, shining over an utterly devastated world._

_A little girl smiled at her, her blonde pigtails shining, clad in a green dress, an oversized hooded cloak on her shoulders, the cape trailing down her back and pooling on the floor. The hood hung lopsided on her head. _

"_Sakura-san… please… be there… save my little sister. Save my precious Fate-chan…"_

She snapped awake.

For a moment, she lay there, staring at the ceiling. This dream had been the strongest yet. She had felt the fear, the sweat, felt her hand tightening almost painfully as she'd tried to stay out of people's way. The tickling on her face as her hair flapped, both from the wind and the backdraft from the helicopter.

The helicopter…

She sat up, rubbing her eyes at the tears that stung her. In the dream, she'd felt so helpless, unable– and in a strange way, unwilling– to fight. This hadn't been anything like what she'd gone through. Only one incident could be comparable to the nightmare scenario that now graced her nights, and even then, she'd felt useless, a weight unable to contribute.

The dream had a sense of immediacy now. She'd realized at some point that her dreams warned her of things, but if they were warning her of _this_…

She shuddered.

Soon, the dreams were saying. Soon.

She had to ask. She had to know…

...

_24/12_

Illya gave a yelp as she suddenly appeared on top of a roof, the wind catching the many frills and flaps of her Magical Girl dress. "Whoa! YES! I _knew_ I could do that instant teleporting thing again!" She could feel Berserker had also made the crossing with her, invisible as always, a comforting presence. It was like having her very own scary guardian angel. As she lowered herself to ground level and de-transformed, she rifled through her pockets, pulling out the scrap of cake box she'd managed to salvage. Everyone had liked the cake when her parents had picked some up before the war had gone to hell, and she could imagine how happy onii-chan would be to have it again. Plus it would definitely put her one-up on Kuro.

She checked out the address, turning to make her way to the location listed on the scrap. The train station wasn't hard to find, but the little café she was looking for, the Midori-ya, was surprisingly crowded. Tables had been set outside, and a girl who looked about Illya's age was waitressing. She supposed her family owned it. The inside was crowded, though mainly from people on their way out, and the tables were full. The line to the cake counter was blessedly short, however, and Illya stood in line, her wallet with its hard-earned money clutched tight in her hands.

"Illya-san?"

Illya jumped, startled at the unexpected mention of her name. She turned, meeting surprised wine-colored eyes. "Oh, hey! Haven't I met you before? Oh, you're Fate-san, right? We met when–"

Fate moved like a blur, one hand clamping on Illya's mouth. "Shh!" she hissed, eyeing the customer next to Ilya on he line. Thankfully, they didn't seem to find anything suspicious, which goes to show adults _severely_ underestimate children. "What are you doing here, Illya-san? Aren't you supposed to be in Fuyuki city?"

Illya scratched her cheek cutely. "Well, you see, um, I'm here to buy a cake. My parents bought a cake from this store and everyone loved it, so I thought I'd surprise everyone by coming home with one."

Fate snapped her fingers. "Oh, that's right, I remember them. Is your mother always so…?" She hesitated, the subject of mothers naturally being a delicate one for her.

"Nuts? Yes," Illya confirmed. "What did she do?"

Fate blushed. "She, uh, wanted to take me home."

Illya sighed. "Ugh. Mom…"

The little girl who'd been waitressing outside passed them, taking an order to the man behind the counter. "Here dad. That's the last order. Can I take a break now?"

"Sure Nanoha-chan," the man, obviously her father said, finishing with the last man's order. "Your turn next, sir." The one in front of Illya stepped forward.

The girl took off her apron, heading for Fate. "Come on Fate-chan. Aliza and Suzuka will be here soon." She caught sight of Illya, and suddenly smiled widely. "Oh, hello, Illya-chan. Can you please tell your friends to get back to me about what happened at Mount Enzo? I still have some blanks in my report."

Illya blinked, staring. "Huh?" she said, not getting what the girl was talking about.

Fate face-palmed.

Realization came near simultaneously. Both girls stared at each other with widening eyes.

"Er, that is, I mean–" Nanoha gibbered.

Illya pointed dramatically. "Oh my gosh! _YOU'RE GREE–_"

Both Fate and Nanoha slapped their hands over the girl's mouth. "SHHHH!" Fate hissed.

"Please don't break my cover!" Nanoha pleaded.

Illya made HMPHMPHMH noises, pointing at her mouth, nodding at Nanoha's words. Cautiously, they took their hands away. "S-sorry," she said. Then she reached out and grabbed Nanoha's left hand. Nanoha yelped in surprise at the sudden move, but Illya only bought the hand up to her eye, peering at it intently. "You're not wearing your ring?" the pale-haired girl asked.

Nanoha blushed, pulling back her hand. "Let's talk outside," she muttered. "Alisa and Suzuka aren't here yet."

Illya looked reluctantly towards the line, but followed the two as they stepped outside. They moved a little ways from the storefront, Fate and Nanoha keeping an eye out. Illya realized they were watching for people close enough to listen in, and she looked around too.

"There," Nanoha said. "I've put up a sound-dampening field around us. If anyone listens in, they'll here us talking about homework." Illya shuddered at the thought.

Nanoha looked at her nervously, Fate behind her as if in support. "So, Illya-san… I guess you realize…"

"You ARE Green Lantern-chan, aren't you?" Illya interrupted, pointing. "Oh my gosh, it makes sense! That's why Fate-san is here! I didn't recognize you without your mask on, but your question gave you away. Only Green Lantern-chan obsesses over her paperwork like that!"

Nanoha frowned. "Why do people think paperwork is such a bad thing? Doing it is relaxing!"

Both girls looked at her and subtly stepped back.

"What are you doing here, Illya-san?" Fate asked, changing the subject. "Aren't you a little far from Fuyuki?"

Illya scratched the back of her head. "Well, you see, I was planning to buy a chocolate cake from that store. My parents bought one a few days ago and everyone loved it, so I thought I'd surprise everyone by buying another one for Christmas."

"A cake?" Nanoha said, blinking. "You came all the way here to buy one of our cakes?"

"It was _really _good cake…" Illya said, drooling slightly.

"They usually are…" Fate sighed in agreement.

Nanoha stared at the two curiously, confused.

The two coughed, pulling themselves out from whatever cake-filled fantasies they'd been in. Fate came together first. "Still, this was a close one, Nanoha-chan. You should be more careful. You keep telling me about how magical Girls need to keep their identities secret, and then you betray yourself like that. It's a good thing Illya-san is an ally. "

Illya's eyebrows rose. "Your name is Nanoha?"

Fate froze, and facepalmed again.

Nanoha patted her consolingly. "It's all right, Fate-chan," she said, not a trace of smugness or anything of the sort. "I forgive you."

"Nanoha-chan! Fate-chan!"

The girls turned, Nanoha dropping the sound-dampening field. She'd been smart enough to make it let sound _in_, but not _out_. Two girls were waving at them, obviously known to Nanoha.

"Oh, Fate-chan, Nanoha-chan, who's your friend?" the purple-haired one asked, looking at Illya curiously.

"Oh, this is Illya-chan," Fate said. "She's a forum friend of ours. We met at a Magical Girl forum."

"You and you Magical Girls," the other blonde said, shaking her head. "Nice to meet you, Illya-chan!"

"Um, likewise," Illya said, a bit nervous. "You're friends of… Nanoha-chan?" She managed to get out the name almost naturally.

"Sure are," the blonde said. "I'm Alisa Bannings, and this is Tsukimura Suzuka."

"Hasn't she told you about us?" Suzuka said.

"Well, the subject of friends doesn't often come up online," Fate said. "We only met Illya-chan today because she and her parents were passing through town and we rognized her user picture when she came into the Mirori-ya to buy a cake!"

"Oh my!" Suzuka said. "You really should use your real picture for forum IDs. It's very dangerous!"

"I'll remember to change it," Illya said, staring at the rapid-fire lies Fate was spewing out. She was good at this.

"Well, this is interesting and all, but we're running late," Alisa said. She turned to Illya and explained. "Sorry, but we're kind of planning to visit a friend who's in the hospital."

"Oh!" Illya exclaimed. "Is she all right?"

"Oh, nothing bad," Alisa said. "She's just getting treatment for an illness of hers."

"Do you want to come along, Illya-san?" Suzuka invited. "I'm sure she'll be glad to meet someone new."

Illya blinked, a bit confused by the sudden turn of events. "Um, well, I really only came to buy a cake…"

"Oh…" Suzuka said, looking like she thought she might have insulted Illya.

Illya turned to Nanoha and Fate. The former looked at her soulfully while the latter shrugged. "But… ah, I suppose I could come along? Any friend of Nanoha-san and Fate-san is a friend of mine!" Illya said.

Nanoha brightened. "Great! And I'll ask dad to keep a cake in reserve for you, so you can come back for it! My treat! What kind of cake were you planning to buy?"

"Well, I was actually going to buy two of the chocolate cakes," Illya said.

"Done!" Nanoha cried. "Let me just run in and tell my dad. I'll meet you at the car!"

She turned and ran, leaving a slightly befuddled Illya staring at her. "What just happened.?"

Fate sighed, also watching her go. "You go Nanoha-ed."

"Fate-chan, stop staring at Nanoha-chan's ass," Suzuka said.

"I wasn't staring!"

...

Sakura had been staring at her all day. She'd done it on the way to school, and when she'd denied it the one time Tomoyo had asked about it, she'd pretended to let it go. Sakura had kept staring at her all day. It wasn't, unfortunately, the kind of stare Tomoyo sometimes– all right, quite regularly actually– dreamed of. It was an intense look, as if Sakura was trying to answer a question, and the only way to do so was to keep on looking at Tomoyo until the question was resolved.

At the end of the day, Tomoyo, who was beginning to find the stare too creepy even for her, finally said, "Sakura-chan? What's wrong?"

Sakura stared at her grimly. "Tomoyo," she said, serious as only Sakura could be serious: looking absolutely adorable doing it. "I need to know. Do you own a big black helicopter? With something called… ordinance?"

Tomoyo frowned innocently as Lee and Meilin both looked at her weird. "Why do you ask, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura took a deep breath. "Because… I need to ask you to use it to take me to fight a giant monster…"

...

"Hayate, I'm sorry about not being able to visit you a lot…"

"That's all right, Vita-chan," Hayate said, patting the kneeling girl on the head. "Have you been well?"

"Yup!" Vita chirped.

Signum and Shamal exchanged a look and a smile. 'Chirped' was not often a word that could be associated with the red knight.

There was a knock on the door. "Hello?"

Hayate turned towards the door. "That sounded like Suzuka-chan… Please come in!"

The Wolkenritter tensed as the door slid open, and five young girls walked in. Well, that is to say, one rushed in, and two others followed sedately after her. One stopped dead in her tracks, ad the last bumped into her.

"Hayate-chan!" Nanoha cried, rushing to Hayate, stopping just short of barreling into Vita kneeling by her Master's side. "How are you? Are you feeling better? Has there been any good news? Did the doctor say anything? When will you be able to get out?"

Hayate laughed. "Nanoha-chan, take a breath! You nearly ran into poor Vita-chan here."

"Ah!" Nanoha cried, stepping back and finally seeing the red-haired girl who'd been kneeling by Hayate's bed. . "Sorry Vita-chan," she said, bowing in apology, and turned back to Hayate, before she paused and did a double take.

Vita didn't notice, however glaring as she was at a stunned Fate, who stood paralyzed at the door, Illya next to her. Shamal and Signum had both also subtly tensed, their eyes locked on Fate as Alisa and Suzuka, oblivious to the byplay, presented their presents to Hayate.

When Fate wouldn't move from the door, however, Hayate looked at her with concern. "Fate-chan? Is something wrong?"

"O-oh, it's nothing!" Fate said, as waving a hand dismissively. "I just wasn't expecting so see so many people here."

"Ah…" Signum said with casual coolness as Shamal's eyes flicked sideways to her. "Is that so."

Fate managed a disarming smile. "Y-yes. That's so."

"Oh, Hayate!" Suzuka said. "This is Illya-chan. She's a friend of Fate and Nanoha's. We met her at the Midori-ya."

"H-hey," Illya greeted, waving at the girl, feeling the slow tension building up in the room as she sloly recognized Signum and Vita from the fated first night. "It's nice to meet you, Hayate-san!"

"Ah, well…" Shamal said, trying to sound normal. "We'll take everyone's coats, shall we?"

Fate followed behind, holding her coat ash Shamal opened the room's closet. She gingerly took the coat from Fate as Signum took the other's coats, and hung it on one of the wire hangers.

"I can't use my phone and my telepathy is being jammed," Fate said softly. "Did you put up a Faraday Cage?"

"Shamal is our support magic expert," Signum said, folding a coat into another hanger. "It's a simple matter to create such a short-range barrier."

Fate looked sideways at Shamal, who was hanging another coat. "So… you're the fourth knight Sa– one of us detected at extreme range. You are the one who took Green Lantern-chan's Linker Core."

Shamal didn't flinch. "Yes," she said softly.

Nanoha, meanwhile, was weirding Vita out. "Do I have something on my face?" she asked, touching the corner of her mouth, wondering if she'd missed some ice-cream.

"N-no it's just that you look very familiar," Nanoha said. For once, she managed to keep her face straight. "Have we met somewhere before?"

"Maybe you've seen each other in the street or something?" Hayate said. "Nanoha-chan, this is Vita-chan. She's a relative of mine from overseas."

"Oh? How interesting," Nanoha said. "Have you been taking care of our Hayate-chan, Vita-chan?"

"Yeah!" Vita said, before turning to glare at Fate.

Hayate frowned. "Vita-chan! Stop scowling at Fate-chan!"

"I'm not scowling!" Vita said, and Nanoha nearly giggled as the knight pouted. "This is how I always look!"

Hayate frowned further, and grabbed her nose. "Vita-chan… this is what bad girls get. Behave! Honestly, what do you have against Fate-chan?"

Fate stared at Hayate, then turned to Signum. "Is it all right if we hang out with her for a bit?" she asked.

Signum didn't look at her. "I believe she would like that…"

...

Night fell.

"Sayonara!" Alisa, Suzuka and Nanoha chorused, waving at the forms of Signum and Shamal outlined against the Hospital's lit doors. Fate could see Shamal waving back, though Signum's gaze never left her. Fate stared right back, then looked up significantly at the hospital roof, adding a further look of challenge. Signum tilted her head and nodded.

As they walked away, Nanoha and Illya fell in behind Fate. "Roof," she said.

Illya pursed her lips. She looked to the side. "Berserker?" she said.

There was a brief ripple of darkness as if in reply.

"My telepathy is still blocked," Fate said. "I can't even contact Arf."

Nanoha smiled grimly. "A good thing I'm here, then." She raised her ring to her lips. "Attention, this is Green Lantern-chan. Wolkenritter found. Repeat, Wolkenritter found. Moving in to confront…"

...

Admiral Gil Graham and his familiars turned as the door to his private office, ostensibly locked, slid open. Framed at the door was Chrone, Yuuno and a mass of armed guards.

"Admiral Gil Graham," Chrono said. "You and your familiars are under arrest for withholding vital information to the Book of Darkness investigation."

Yuuno held up a file. "Have long have you known about Yagami Hayate?"

...

Hidden in Shamal's shoulder bag, the Book of Darkness pulsed with crimson light.

...

On a roof overlooking the Uminari University hospital– overlooking it, that is, from several miles away– Chao Lingshen smiled grimly as she put down the binoculars she'd been using to watch the six figures facing off on the hospital roof. "It's starting…" she said.

"This is wrong," Chibi-Usa said, now shed of her nurse uniform. "They shouldn't be fighting… they're _friends!_"

"_Will be _friends," the martian corrected. "There is an essential difference"

Chibi-Usa glared at her, then turned away again. "This is wrong…"

"It will hurt," Chao corrected again. "It will bring pain. But doing the right thing usually does."

Chibi-Usa shook her head. "This is wrong…"

...

_The stage is set. The dice are cast._

_Let it begin._

...

**- To be continued...**

...

A/N: People keep calling this a Crack fic. I don't see why. So it has a lot of crossovers and the characters tend to be funny. So? It was just a simple idea: Nanoha with a Power Ring. And then it escalated. And escalated. And at heart, I want to be able to tell a good story. I am also a firm believer in Earning Your Happy Ending. How else to make someone with a Power Ring earn a happy ending?

Make them SUFFER!

I find Fate and Nanoha not eating during the Christmas Eve episode to be sinful. Did you SEE that food?

Nanoha never met Shamal face to face. This Nanoha also always wears a mask, and later so does Shamal. That's all that's needed under DC-verse rules.

I'm positing a good end where they finally find Nagi and Arika before the end of the series and magic doesn't get revealed. Otherwise, I already have an idea for how to justify making this AU: Blame Akemi Homura! Nagi will not be appearing much in this continuity. Like Rakan, he's semi-retired, and willing to let the new generation handle things. He nad his wife spend time in Africa helping people in war torn areas or something, dealing with vampires preying on the unprotected people there, hanging out with talking gorillas, anything _but_ be a solve everything button. If you want, they could be busy churning out little siblings for Negi.

On a side note, a crossover between this series and Overmaster's _**Unequally Rational and Emotional **_is forthcoming. Check the series out in the meantime. It's a megacrossover in the old tradition, from back in the nineties when being on the internet was harder, so only mostly literate people posted fanfics. It's great! It has the SCM stamp of plugging!

By the way, this series now has a Wiki. Check out "2814universe dot wikia dot com".

Please review, C&C welcome.

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	23. Book of Truest Darkness

A/N: Wow, that was some delay…

...

Takamachi Nanoha of 2814

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 23: The Linker Cores War, Part 13: Book of Truest Darkness

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story. If I did… well, this would all be canon. WARNING: MAY CAUSE HEAD EXPLOSION!

...

_24/12__- Before_

Beneath the shadow of the World Tree, two figures danced.

Anyone who's read before, of course, knows this is an artsy way of saying "Two martial artists were beating the crap out of each other".

Negi Springfield attacked, hands and feet moving faster than one would expect for someone with his small frame. He traced circles in the air, each movement both an attack and a trap, meant to eight harm or, at the very least, hold the enemy in place so his next strike could do harm. Each move was calculated and thought out, then thought out a lot more. These moves had seen him through many battles, and had allowed him to overcome one who even he had thought was invincible.

It was very annoying to find it wasn't doing him any good.

Cassandra flowed from his blows, always a heartbeat ahead. For every trap, counter and attack of opportunity he made, she was already evading as quickly as Nodoka would have, or quicker. Her parries were few, far between and mainly disinterested, always where he couldn't take advantage. It was frustrating… and educational.

Negi had no illusions about his martial arts skills. While he had beaten enemy after enemy, many just barely, he knew he had done so mainly from superior speed, magical capacity and efficiency, creative and frankly genius-level spell development, and– he was willing to admit– reckless use and over-use of an _extremely_ dangerous technique that literally had 'DARK MAGIC' stamped on it. While he had developed a fair bit of speed and strength from training with Fei and the Master, most of his physical ability came from magical boosts. And when it came to actual hand-to-hand skill, all things being equal, either one of his teachers could still mop the floor with him. One-handed. On one leg. Blindfolded. With a cold.

Since learning that Cassandra was also a martial arts expert, he'd taken to training with her as well. She was fitting in perfectly with his class. That is, she was a complete and utter mystery, and it was anyone's guess whether she'd later turn out to be friend, foe, alien, demon, ninja, princess, or time-traveling descendant with her own hidden agenda. When Nodoka had told him of her stand at Evangeline's he'd, for once, done the sensible thing and told the rest of the faculty. She'd been frustratingly closed-mouth about what happened, answering at most monosyllabically. Ala Alba had testified on her behalf and the dean had, to much exasperation from some of the other teachers, agreed not to erase her memories as long as she agreed to keep quiet about magic. Given that she was second only to Zazie in not talking and first when it came to how little she actually said, this was not hard.

A palm slammed hard into Negi's face, not because he was distracted by the train of thought that was the info dump of the previous paragraphs– he'd been thinking no such thing, concentrating completely on the spar– but because Cassandra had just snaked a hand through his defenses like he was a paraplegic senior citizen. The impact knocked him, back, and in less time than it took to register, Cassandra had once again swept his feet out from under him and gripped his arm in yet _another_ lock, and had him face-down on the ground, using his back as a cushion.

He immediately relaxed, and Cassandra got off him, letting him get to his feet before she took another ready stance. That was completely for his benefit, he believed. She could pretty easily defend against him sitting on a chair with a baby on her lap. They were alone under the world tree, their towels and gym bags far to the side. Negi suspected that Ala Alba were rushing about trying to buy last-minute presents. He knew Asuna, at least, hadn't bought anything yet, and had heard Chisame bemoaning about how their 'playing at Magical Girls' had taken up her shopping time. The others had been surprised to hear she _had _set aside shopping time. She'd been pretty annoyed at how they'd made a big deal about it.

He stood, set his feet, raised his arms.

The dance began anew.

...

_Now_

The wind blew cold across the roof.

Shamal drew her coat tighter against her, trying to block it, and Signum had to resist the urge to put an arm around her. Those guilty, apologetic urges had been coming up all week, since the incident with that Archer person, and though she'd been indulging them, both to assuage her guilt at her behavior and because she'd been raised as a knight, now was definitely _not_ the time.

Vita wasn't with them yet. She was to be their backup, and was taking the time to spend a few last moments with Hayate until one of them sent her word that the meeting was confirmed. Neither of them blamed her.

Testarossa stood at the far end of the roof from the access door, her hair whipping with the breeze, the coat Shamal herself had helped hang wrapped around her. She was shivering slightly too.

Signum pursed her lips. She'd been half-hoping the young mage wouldn't put in an appearance. The jamming spell Shamal had cast on her and her phone might have hindered her, but all it would take was a pay phone to contact anyone, and they couldn't knock out the entire city's communications network. She wondered whether the TSAB was already in position as she took the lead, keeping herself between the two blondes and off to one side to let Shamal keep Testarossa in sight.

Apparently, Shamal thought the same. "Your friends might as well come out, Testarossa-san," she said, her rings' gems glowing slightly. "I know they're there."

Fate pursed her lips as well, but there air behind her shimmered, before turning bright, vivid green, the cloaking-effect dissolving to reveal–

Shamal gasped.

"Hello, Shamal-san," Nanoha said apologetically, clad in her black and green dress with its glowing lines and Corps emblems, her face fully exposed. The ring on her left middle finger glowed brightly. "I guess you know why I always have a lot of Green Lantern stories, now."

"Nanoha-chan?" Shamal said, her voice catching.

Illya stood next to her, clad in her pink and white magical girl dress, Ruby in her hands. "You hurt my sister," Illya said, face also unmasked, set into determined lines. "I might forgive you for that– she's really annoying– but not before I kick you around first."

Nanoha put a restraining hand on Illya, her gaze never leaving Shamal. "When I first met Hayate-chan, I scanned her with my ring," Nanoha said. "Imagine my surprise when the scan came up inconclusive. In hindsight, it should have been obvious. Ring-chan has difficulty scanning magical phenomena if they're not actively causing some kind of anomalous physical side-effect."

"_There is no such–_" Ring-chan begun.

"Hush," Nanoha ordered. She kept staring at the blonde knight. "Shamal-san… correct me if I'm wrong, but… were you the one who took my Linker Core, when all this first began?"

"Nanoha-chan…" Shamal repeated, unable to tear her eyes away from the girl she'd laughed with in Hayate's room for many afternoons. "You…"

Nanoha's smile saddened. "It's all right. There was no permanent damage. I forgive you."

The blonde flinched as if Nanoha had cursed at her.

"Shamal-san, please," Nanoha pleaded, taking a step forward. "I bought you and Hayate cake. We've laughed together. I've seen the sadness in your eyes when Hayate was turned away. You and I have talked. Please, talk to me now. Tell me what this is about. Help me understand."

"We have nothing to say to you, Green Lantern," Signum said, voice cold as the realization came over her that this girl, _the enemy_, had been with their mistress all that time, right under their very noses, and they had been unaware.

"Yes you do, Signum-san," Fate said. "Or else you wouldn't have agreed to this."

"Shamal-san," Nanoha continued pleading. "You know me. You know I care about Hayate-chan too. Please, talk to us."

Shamal stared mutely at Nanoha. She could remember the feel of the Linker Core in her hands, had heard the scream that had been carried to her via her spell. She'd done things like that before. They all had. The Wolkenritter had often faced people for their cores under some of the masters long past remembered. Even she, who didn't really have the stomach for this, had done so. But for her, it was usually a long way away. Her Mirror of Travels never showed their faces at the moment of attack, and she had learned to never look when she had. She'd just taken their core, or if their master was vindictive, their heart or some other organ, and closed the way. That was all there was to it to her.

You weren't supposed to meet the victims afterwards. You weren't supposed to learn their names and their habits, and become friends with them.

They weren't supposed to _forgive_ you.

Nanoha continued to look soulfully at her. "Hayate-chan is the mistress of the Book of Darkness, isn't she?"

The Book hanging inside Shamal's coat seemed to burn incriminatingly. "Yes…" she said.

"She doesn't know, does she, what you've been doing?" Fate said. "She doesn't seem that sort of person."

Shamal managed a watery smile. "No, she doesn't. She isn't. She's a kind girl who doesn't deserve what is happening to her."

"What _is_ happening?" Nanoha asked. "How is magic causing her paralysis? _How can we help?_"

_How can we help?_

The victims weren't supposed to want to help you either. So this must be a trick. Except… this was Nanoha-chan. She wouldn't do that…

Shamal hands tightened into fists, her nails digging into her palms as she tried to keep her dignity as a knight.

_Shamal?_ she heard Signum ask. _Are you all right? _

"Nanoha-chan!" Shamal demanded. "Why do you care? You're working for the TSAB. All you should care about is stopping us."

Nanoha shook her head. "I work _with_ the TSAB, not for them. There is an essential difference. And I care because Hayate-chan is my friend. And so are you, Shamal-san. We're friends, aren't we? Let me help you."

"Shamal!" Signum snapped. "Snap out of it! Remember our duty!"

Shamal jerked, shaking her head. She turned her gaze to Nanoha, determined now. "You can't help, Nanoha-ch– _Green Lantern_. No one can. The only way to save Hayate is by completing the Book of Darkness. Only then will it stop feeding on her core and allow her body to regenerate. We would have finished days ago if the book hadn't been damaged in Mahora."

"Hey, you bought that on yourselves!" Illya cried. "You come in with an army of monsters and robots, what are people supposed to do? Stand around and get eaten? You killed Archer!"

Shamal blinked. Robots?

"You are mistaken," Signum said. "Archer defeated us. He was alive when we parted ways."

"Well, he was dead when we found him two minutes later!" Illya snapped.

Signum didn't flinch, didn't react. "Then you have my sincerest condolences. Archer… helped us. We owed him. Was he the one who told you how to find Hayate? Did he leave some kind of message behind?"

"No one told us about Hayate," Nanoha said. "Today's meeting was just that, an accident."

Illya blinked. "Wait, _ARCHER_ knew about you guys? He knew about Hayate being… Hayate. _Yagami_ Hayate?"

There was something like dawning horror in the girl's voice that compelled Shamal to reply. "Yes. That is Hayate-chan's full name. I guess the introductions were a bit lacking. I'm sorry," she added, feeling self-conscious.

Not _the time, Shamal_, Signum sent, sounding exasperated.

_Well, excuse me for having manners!_

"_Yagami_ Hayate… Yagami _Hayate_…" Illya repeated to herself as Fate turned to look at her in concern, while Nanoha merely looked sideways at her so as not to leave an opening. "I thought that name was familiar. Oh no… Oh _no…_"

"Illya?" Fate said. "What are you talking about?"

"At the end of the fight in Ryuudo," Illya said, voice still slightly distant. "A Servant from the 4th Holy Grail War appeared to help us. She'd been keeping herself bound to the Grail for the last ten years waiting for an opportunity to destroy it. She said… she said her name was Yagami Hayate. Destroyer of Worlds. Queen of the Night Sky."

Nanoha blinked. "Night Sky?"

Signum frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Illya-chan, what are you talking about?" Fate said. "Hayate might not even have been born yet, ten years ago."

"She and Archer kept talking about some kind of plan…" Illya continued, frantically chasing a line of thought. "They talked like they knew each other. She said something about how Archer's Linker Core had been uploaded a long time ago…"

"Illya, you're not making sense…" Nanoha said.

"I don't know what sense there is to make!" Illya said. "All I know is this is the second Hayate I've heard about this month, and both seem to be related to each other!"

Shamal and Signum didn't exchange a look. They didn't need to. "I don't know who this other 'Hayate' is," Signum said, "but she isn't related to our master, and thus irrelevant to this conversation. We cannot let you stop us. It will soon be possible to grant Hayate's wish."

"If you're going to interfere…" Shamal said. "Even if you're Hayate-chan's friends…"

"Please, just listen to us," Nanoha pleaded. "Your information is incomplete. If the Book of Darkness is completed, then Hayate-chan will– !"

"_Don't listen to her!_"

A small, quick form descended from high above as Vita charged at Nanoha, hammer in hand. Nanoha darted to the side, one hand raised. A barrier snapped into existence in front of her hand, the surface rippling in a flower-like pulsing wave as a green disk of energy appeared beneath it. The barrier slowed the hammer, absorbing kinetic energy until it struck the shield, which stood immovable. Still moving, the hammer slid from the layered defense, striking the ground and only slightly indenting the concrete rather than bursting through, the energy of the strike expended.

"Nanoha!" Fate cried as Illya backed away in surprise. Instinct made the blonde dart back father, neatly avoiding Signum's overhand strike as Bardiche came to her hand in a flash of golden light. Laevatein, too, struck concrete.

"It will be quite a problem if you inform the TSAB of our Mistress' identity," Signum said as she rose.

"I can't let you escape the range of my communications jamming barrier," Shamal said. Her face was shadowed, her voice bleak. Nanoha thought she could see the woman's cheeks sparkling.

"Well, tough, they already know!" Illya said. "You weren't able to jam Green Lantern-chan's ring!"

Shamal jerked. She stared at Nanoha, who stared at her just as evenly.

"You're not the only one with a duty," the Green Lantern of sector 2814 said.

Vita stood, head bowed, face shadowed as she faced Nanoha, who'd slid to a halt. The wind blew over the knight's limbs. In a sweeping burst of crimson light, her red dress materialized on her. "Don't you dare interfere," Vita said, voice dead. "Just a little longer, and we'll be able to save her! Hayate will become lively and joyful… she'll return to us! We've been working so desperately! There's only a little left, so…"

A tear glistened down her cheek.

"DON'T INTERFERE!" Vita cried, hammer raised to strike.

"Are you insane?" Nanoha cried, frantic. "We're on top of a hospital! We're on _HAYATE'S _hospital! What if you accidentally break through into her room?"

Vita froze.

"Klarwind!" Shamal cried. "Mass Dimensional Transfer! Raise Barrier!"

Nanoha felt the displacement effect as the Transport spell kicked in. There was a moment of disorientation as the light receded, her instincts screaming at her she was in danger.

"Ring-chan! Shields at full!" Nanoha cried, just as Vita's mallet slammed into her. He feet slid back as she mentally redirected the concentration of her will towards the point of impact, and could feel the emerald light warring against the power of Vita's magic. Feedback erupted through her mind as it broke through, but she'd learned her lesson. The mallet slammed into the next layer, and the next and the next, and stopped cold.

"Raging Heart!" Nanoha cried. Her eyes took in details, noting the slightly discolored air of the area. Barrier effect. They were at what looked like a gas station. She recognized some of the landmarks in sight, and knew they were near the bay, away from the hospital. Shamal must have picked a location randomly…

"Graf Eisen!" Vit cried back.

"Set Up!"

"Explosion!"

A brilliant circle of pink light snapped into place, surrounded by an emerald shield as Graf Eisen slammed into it with magically empowered force. Nanoha was thrown back, slamming into the ground, which cracked and burst under her. The smell of gasoline filled the air before she slammed into the tanks full of liquid beneath, sending up a large wave of fluid.

There was a shockwave as the gas ignited, exploding into an enormous ball of fire.

"Nanoha!" Fate and Shamal both cried, the latter surprised at her reaction.

Vita panted as the flames licked, her heart suddenly tensed as she realized maybe she'd gone a tad too far…

A figure encased in green light rose from the flames like a creature out of hell, her hair and skirt fluttering in the breeze of the flames. Nanoha stared at Vita with sad eyes, Raging Heart in her hands.

Relief in Vita quickly turned into rage. "You… What kind of green devil are you!-?"

Nanoha smiled sadly. "Listen to me and find out."

A cartridge burst from Raging Heart. "_Axel Mode. Drive Ignition._"

"_Ring power at 89 percent._"

They clashed.

...

_24/12- Before_

Tomoyo, it turned out, had an _extensive_ underground garage.

Meilin looked critically at the sleek, black war machine in front of them. "Didn't they discontinue this?"

"What's your point, Meilin-chan?" Tomoyo said, smiling at her.

Sakura stared. "Wow…" she said, sounding both amazed and a little apprehensive. "Tomoyo-chan _does_ have a helicopter."

"I've extensively modified everything personally," Tomoyo said, and the faintest hint of pride crept into her voice.

"Hoe…" Sakura breathed. "Tomoyo-chan, this is so cool!"

"Oh, it's nothing compared to you, Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo said, and you could practically see the special twinkly background behind her as hearts floated around her head.

Syaoran looked at it with a more cynical eye. "It's armed to the teeth with actual things that go 'boom', isn't it?"

Tomoyo smiled brightly.

"Tomoyo-chan…" Sakura said. "Do you have any…" she hesitated, trying to remember. "Nukes?"

The Lees turned to stare at her, but Tomoyo only said, "Yes. Why?"

"I…" Sakura said, confused. "I need you to put as many as you can on your helicopter… and then I need you to take me somewhere on it."

Tomoyo frowned slightly in puzzlement. "Why?"

Sakura took a deep breath. "I had a dream…"

...

_24/12- Now_

"Shamal, stay back and concentrate on maintaining the jamming barrier," Signum ordered. "Prevent them from summoning reinforcements."

"The Book of Darkness was broken and altered a long time ago," Fate said, facing her. "If you force trying to complete it now, Hayate will…"

"In a sense, we are part of the Book of Darkness," Signum interrupted, leveling her sword at Fate.

"Which is why we obviously know everything about it!" Vita cried as she attacked Nanoha.

"Then why…" Nanoha said as she blocked, "do you call it the Book of Darkness?"

Vita blinked at this, confused.

"Why don't you call it by its real name?" Nanoha said.

Vita stared. "Its… real name?"

"It has a real name, doesn't it?" Nanoha said. "In time past, it was called the Tome of the Night Sky!"

Illya froze as a scene flashbacked in her mind; a woman floating in the sky, garbed in white, blazing with power and holding forth a book. _Noble Phantasm: Tome of the Night Sky!_

She shook her head, pointed at Shamal. "Don't get comfortable, lady!" she cried. "I'll be your opponent!"

Signum frowned, her body shining as she changed to her Knight Armor, Shamal following suit. "Then I shall fight you as well, child."

Illya moved to stand beside Fate as the latter held out her device. "_Barrier Jacket,_" Bardiche intoned as a cartridge discharged, its shape changing. "_Sonic Form. Haken Form._"

Fate's clothes changed, noticeably altered now. Little wings of light grew from her ankles and wrists.

Signum tilted her head. "So you made your lightweight armor even lighter."

Illya turned to stare at Fate. "Wow, Fate-chan, that's really… light. Wow, it's so light, it's practically not there. And the mask really isn't helping. Honestly, I feel kinda dirty just looking at you."

Fate blushed slightly behind her black mask. "I can move much faster because of it," she said defensively.

"If you take even a glancing blow, you'll die," Signum said bluntly. "Are you crazy, Testarossa?"

"I've been spending time on Earth," Fate said. "I'm afraid it rubs off on you."

Illya wasn't letting the subject go. "Seriously, Fate, you look like you just stepped out of a _really_ dirty doujin drawn from the world's skeeziest pervert's wettest dream. I mean, look at you! You make me want to stare at your ass, and I don't like you that way!"

Signum bowed her head and, strangely, began to chuckle. "Had we met before this… we may have become good friends."

"We still can, Signum," Fate said, frantically pushing down her blushes at Illya's words. "Stand down. Let us help you help Hayate."

Laevatein's point rose. "No," Signum said sadly. "We can't. All we do must be for Hayate. We have no room for anything else."

"You know, you sound just like this girl I know," Illya said, taking a defensive stance. "Tall girl, blonde, answers to Saber?"

Behind Signum, Shamal summoned the Book to her hand, ready to use its few abilities to assist in the battle. Illya twitched at seeing the book.

There was a pregnant moment as, above, Vita and Nanoha fought.

Fate charged forward as Illya darted to the side, circling to try and get past the swordswoman. Laevatein ejected a cartridge as it changed forms, the suddenly whip-like blade sweeping outwards to slash at both girls. Illya yelped, raising Ruby, a barrier forming in front of her and deflecting the whip as Fate dodged under the slash, scythe blade sweeping upwards. Signum spun her wrist, wrapping a length of flexible blade around the shining width of energy going for her throat, locking it in place.

"_Thunder Blade, single strike!_" Power gathered in Fate's hand, a circular sigil-inscribed ring of light coming into existence around her hand, stabilizing the crackling ball of energy there. The energy quickly formed into a sword, and she swung her arm, the brilliant blade floating in the circle sweeping towards Signum's unguarded side. The blade of concentrated electric energy ionized the air, only to meet Laevatein's sheath, held in her other hand. With a snap, the sword snapped back into its default form, Signum pushing Fate back with a burst of strength and leverage. The Armed Device's blade bit into the ground, cutting through it like butter, and with a flick of her wrist, a triangular chunk of concrete the size of a head popped out, the sheath slamming into it with tremendous force. Illya yelped and darted back as the chunk flew at her, raising another shield to block it. Overhead, green light and steel balls were flying like crazy, and Illya didn't want to risk flying up and getting caught in the crossfire.

Signum raised an eyebrow at Fate, Bardiche clutched in her left hand the lightning spell in her cupped right. "Dual-wielding, Testarossa?" she said, holding both blade and sheath before her. "I didn't realize you were the type."

Fate smiled thinly. "Tuxedo Kamen-sama and I spoke, and we exchanged notes on fighting you. Allow me to give you his regards." The sword suddenly shot at Signum like an oversized Photon Lancer. Signum raised her weapons to guard, but before it could strike, Fate cried "_BREAK!_"

The spell exploded in a burst of destructive electricity, and some of Signum's loose hairs lifted at the sudden charge, even as the energy struck her. The power ground itself through Laevatein, barely thrust into the ground in time to give the lightning a way to earth itself. Signum stumbled as random spasms briefly twitched through small areas of her body, but she managed to raise her weapons in time to block Fate's follow-up attack. Fate was a shining yellow blur, her scantier armor obviously effective, the glowing wings leaving trailing after images against the dark night. Bardiche spun in her hands, and the curved tooth of a blade became a comet as it sought Signum. Signum parried, blocked, but Fate's surprise attack had left her slightly uncoordinated, random spasms across her body throwing off her rhythm

There was the snap of another cartridge being expended, and suddenly Fate's wings burned brighter, bigger, and there was a faint crackling hiss in the air. "_Blitz Rush!_" she cried, literally disappearing from Signum's sight as the entire immediate area around the knight suddenly glowed yellow. Her eyes caught movement, instinct moving her before conscious thought as she moved to block slashes her mind didn't really perceive until after the fact, centuries of combat experience seeing her in good stead. This wasn't completely enough, however, and she felt the burning as the scythe blade struck the flesh on her arms and legs, felt the impact on her back and torso.

She tried to attack, tried to go on the offensive, but Fate was taking her initiative and running with it, using her speed for every advantage she could. Signum nearly dropped Laevatein as a sharp rap struck her hand, but she kept her grip on the Armed Device. Not two seconds later, however, there was another sharp rap. And another. And another. Her hands started to go numb with pain. The golden glow began to die, and Signum felt a screaming at her back– not to be confused with how her back was screaming in agony– and spun, catching Bardiche as it slashed sideways at her. The glowing winglets at Fate's wrists and ankles had dimmed now, returning to their previous size, the spell obviously having worn off. Fate's shoulder's were heaving, her hands shaking, but her grip on Laevatein was steady as she disengaged and moved back slightly, her device already spinning to either counter Signum or launch into a retaliatory strike.

Signum lunged, her sword aiming straight for Fate's center of mass. Fate turned the spin into a parry, but the thrusting blade was a feint, the sheath darting in after it. Fate managed to block it with the new heavy bracer on her arm, but the awkward move left her back exposed. Signum dropped the sheath, her now-free hand snapping up to focus her grip on Laevatein. Fate tied to move Bardiche to lock her arm in place, but the knight twisted, kicking her flight into gear, using the added maneuverability to complete the slash.

Fate twisted, back-flipping with grace, agility and no small amount of flexibility that would _definitely_ not be out of place in the aforementioned _really_ dirty doujin drawn from the world's skeeziest pervert's wettest dream. She activated her flight in midair, spinning to catch Signum's riposte, Device slamming against Device. Her speed was no match against Signum's mass in such as direct contest, and she was pushed back before she disengaged, trying to stay in the extreme edges of close range. Signum had too many advantages up close, and she couldn't lure her to an extended long-range battle because that would leave the knight open to attack either Nanoha or Illya. She would have to walk a delicate balance to make sure she retained all her advantages, and Signum probably knew it.

Oddly, the thought made her… _eager_.

With a cry, she turned and attacked again.

...

They clashed.

Vita charged, as straightforward as the hammer she wielded, voice crying in rage. Nanoha darted away, wary. She'd fought Vita twice now, knew from experience her magic was good at breaking through her constructs. The knight was still crying.

"Why!-?" Vita cried as she slammed with savage blows, Nanoha's construct shields, made quickly rather than sturdily, breaking under her weapon. "Why couldn't you just leave us alone?-! We're just trying to help Hayate-chan walk again! We're just trying to bring her smile back! _Why won't you leave us alone?-!_"

Nanoha squashed the urge to remind her _they'd_ attacked _her_, raising a Round Shield when Vita got too close for comfort. "Vita-chan, please, surrender! We can still help Hayate-chan! Just stop all this! If you keep filling the book, it's going to–"

"S_hut up!_" Vita cried. "_Shut up, shut up, shut up!_"

"_Flash Move,_" Raging Heart said, the Flier Fins on Nanoha's feet flapping and causing her to _move_, disappearing momentarily from sight as she dashed out of Vita's line of sight. Vita's instincts screamed at her through her rage, and she whirled in time to catch Nanoha's Flash Impact to the back of her head. The green aura around Raging Heart erupted, transmuting into chain that wrapped around Graf Eisen. Nanoha wrenched, flying back as she tried to rip the weapon out of Vita's hands.

Vita let go abruptly, surprising Nanoha and sending her tumbling. She recovered, only to cry out in surprise as her construct chains broke, Graf Eisen's anti-theft functions coming into play. The force disoriented her, threw her back. A foot slammed against her front, and dampened though it was by both her barrier Jacket and her aura, the mass behind it managed to throw her back, the force snapping her head forward, disorienting her slightly.

"_Round Shield,_" a tandem pair of voices said.

Vita's hammer slammed into a double layer of green and pink energy as Raging Heart and Ring-chan both defended their wielder, blocking the strike as Nanoha recovered herself. "_Ring Bind!_" she cried, rings of energy suddenly appearing to snap around Vita's wrists and ankles. The knight managed to dodge, but one of the rings caught on the trailing end of the bow on her back, the sturdy armor holding fast and delaying her for a crucial moment.

It was all Nanoha needed.

She shoved Raging Heart's tip at Vita's stomach, crying out her spell over the sudden explosion of a cartridge being expended as Raging Heart powered up to obey her command. "_Divine Danmaku!_"

Vita was blasted back violently, her bow tearing from the binding ring as she took the spell at point-blank range. The dozens, hundreds of Shooters released their power into her, only a small fraction slipping around to impact harmlessly on the surrounding buildings and terrain. The little knight was thrown into a building across the streat, breaking easily through the concrete as shooters perforated the walls around it. The front of the building began to collapse as the sounds of more walls breaking echoed. Nanoha hesitated, wondering if perhaps that had been a _tad_ too much. She strove for height, her ring scanning, displaying its findings on her visor, checking for Vita's location. She could vaguely make out where she thought the knight had stopped, a building with a big hole trailing dust on one side but no hole at the other.

Distantly, she heard multiple explosions, as if several cartridges had just gone off in rapid succession. Her instinct was to freeze, but rational thought overrode instinct, throwing her flight into high gear as she suddenly moved in a quick burst, weaving through a basic evasive maneuver learned in Rookie Lantern training meant to avoid tracking projectiles.

"_Schwalbe Schwarm!_"

The entire building she suspected Vita was in exploded, a silvery cloud tearing through the roof and most of the upper walls. Her visor screamed warnings as Raging Heart suddenly cried out, "_Alert! Evasion!_" A heartbeat later, Nanoha realized what she was looking at. Had she been a deeper person, she'd have considered the irony of her own attack tactic being used against her.

Because she was a lot shallower person than that, however, she instead kicked her flight into high gear, deactivating her self-imposed super-sonic safeties as she went straight up, vaguely aware of the shockwave she left behind as she went from a flight speed of a few dozen kilometers per hour to multiples of the speed of sound.

The entire mass of head-sized metal spheres ripped after her, tearing every unfortunate power line, post, and building in their path.

Emerald light began to wrap around Nanoha as she strove for altitude, stopping as she reached the upper limit of the barrier. She turned to face the oncoming swarm, standing in the center of her construct.

The Schwalbe Swarm struck the gut of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, causing the enormous stomach to ripple. They plunged in, but Nanoha was ready now. This wasn't a pure magic attack, but an attack that boosted the destructive properties of a solid material. She used that, the constructs mass absorbing and redirecting the kinetic force of the spheres, turning them back on themselves. The spheres shook and began to fracture almost immediately, reduced to dust before they'd penetrated halfway through the giant, gelatinous form. The magic faded away, lacking something to anchor it.

Nanoha was just breathing a sigh of relief when the blunt face of a hammer the size of her construct slammed into the giant movie icon. Nanoha gave a cry as the attack, more mass, energy and magic than her construct had been made to overcome, slammed into her, the causing feedback. She was swatted out of the air, the giant form beginning to dissolve into gooey mush that faded away into the night. Pushing through her sudden headache, Nanoha grit her teeth, stabilizing her flight with her Flier Fins, swinging Raging Heart as she cast another spell. "_Ring Bind_" she cried.

Pink rings locked the haft of the enormous hammer into place, and a few moments later, emerald chains burst from her ring, locking gravitational anchors into place in the air to steady themselves before engulfing the giant weapon. The hammer shook slightly as someone tried to tug it away.

"Vita-chan!" Nanoha cried out, amplifying her voice with her ring and transmitting through telepathic frequencies. "Listen to me! You can't complete the Book! It would–"

_**SHUT UP!**_ came Vita's telepathic scream.

Interesting thing. Apparently, Graf Eisen's anti-theft measures _also_ scaled up.

There was a pillar-shaped shockwave as the hammer broke both her bind and her chains, sending dual feedback through Nanoha and causing her to cut off with a surprised cry. Graf Eisen was wrenched out of place, already shrinking as it did so.

Nanoha grit her teeth, the beginnings of annoyance rising in her. "Darn it!" she yelled, her visor switching to telescopic view as a targeting circle appeared before her. Both locked on to the distant but rapidly approaching form of Vita. "_Listen to me!_" She gestured, pushing will into the ring, making it shape her visions.

Vita looked up in time to see an entire school of giant sharks with chainsaw teeth and gatling guns on their heads burst from Green Lantern's hand, mouths open wide and hungry as they fell upon the knight.

The knight's eyebrow twitched. "I'm really coming to hate these fish," she said as she hefted her hammer…

Then Shamal's voice came into Nanoha's mind.

…_get… away…_

The pain in the sending alarmed her, and she whirled, her concentration broken, scanning the ground, spotting the telltale flashes of Fate's own fight. Opposite from her, Vita stopped as well, obviously having heard the voice.

Suddenly, the littlest knight's eyes widened. "NO!" she cried, suddenly streaking towards that battlefield. "No, Shamal! Not you too!" She flew, the battle forgotten.

Nanoha hesitated, arm and staff raised, taking in the perfect opportunity to attack before her…

… and shook her head, considering that unworthy of her. She rushed after Vita, her mind already worrying for Shamal. What had…?

She heard Vita say a bad word. She knew it was a bad word, because instead of translating it, Ring-chan just made a sort of (BLEEP) sound. They hovered high above, and the shorter girl was staring downwards.

Abruptly, she turned towards Nanoha, face unreadable but tears coming to her eyes. Nanoha halted, half-hearted raising Raging Heart, unsure whether she'd need to defend from an attack.

Finally, the knight seemed to come to a decision. "If you really are Shamal's friend," Vita said, barely restrained sobs audible in her voice, "you'll help me take her down."

Nanoha blinked, confused at the sudden words. "Vita-chan…?"

Vita turned away. "Shoot her. Shoot her with everything you've got. I'll go save your friend."

She was rushing down before Nanoha could say another word, leaving her to stare at Vita's retreating underwear.

From below rose a cry, and green light blasted a pink-haired figure. A dark-clad figure, too tall to be Fate, turned towards Illya's form as Vita rushed downwards, one hand raised to attack. The knight wouldn't reach in time. What…?

Nanoha spotted Illya lying fallen before the dark figure and made a snap decision.

"Buster Mode. Prime Will-fire Intermix Lens!" she ordered, aiming Raging Heart downwards, her ring starting to glow as a trail of emerald energy began to feed into the receiver at the base of the stock she was holding.

"_Priming Will-fire Intermix Lens," _Raging Heart said.

"_Beginning Intermix Process," _Ring-chan said. "_Willpower entering reaction chamber._"

"_Fire when ready," _they chorused.

"_DIVINE BUSTER, EMERALD PLASMA CORE SHOT!_"

Will-reinforced magic drew its blazing line of light across the sky…

...

Illya was slightly, _slightly_ tempted to wave and see if Fate still remembered she still existed, but a part of her mind that sounded suspiciously like Archer pointed out how stupid that idea was. She dashed around the two, giving them a wide berth, clutching Ruby tight as she turned to attack Shamal. She kept her gaze intent on the book floating slightly above the blonde woman's hands. She had _vivid_ memories of a Noble Phantasm that looked _exactly_ like that book being used to utter destroy an incarnation of ultimate evil, making her _very_ nervous.

As such, she was so intent she almost didn't notice the person holding it.

"_Wind Shackles_!" Shamal cried, small, whirling vortexes of green wind suddenly springing into being, raising dust and small debris as they shot at Illya. They were surprisingly slow, and Illya managed to dodge them easily. Experimentally, she slammed a shield into the path of one, just to see what would happen.

The star-shaped barrier shattered like glass, making Illya yelp and leap back involuntarily. Those little whirlwinds were _strong! _She was so shocked, she nearly stumbled into the path of another one. The wing-like cape she wore was partially shredded as it was caught in the funnel, and Illya was nearly pulled off her feet at the neck. She darted back, kicking off from the ground slightly to get above the little funnels. "My turn!" she cried. She raised Ruby and swung, the wand blasting out several balls of energy at the blonde.

"_Wind Shield,_" Shamal intoned, a vaguely whirling shield of glowing green appearing before her. The spell intercepted Illya attack easily, though she sort of figured on that. After all, it was never that easy.

Well, let's see how she dealt with her defense-breaker. She formed the attack: long, narrow, cutting. She swung Ruby again. "_Schneiden!_" she cried, the blade-like concentrated attack flying forward. It slammed into the shield, and for a moment it seemed to hold… until the middle rippled, a diagonal break in its plane suddenly appearing as Shamal was suddenly thrown back, pieces of her Knight Armor tearing from her torso, revealing her reddening skin and the faintest hint of the edge of a white bra.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Illya sweatdropped as Shamal was thrown back. "Ruby!" she cried. "Why is this attack a stripping spell?"

"It's always been that fanservicey, Illya-chan" Ruby said. "Remember what happened to Kuro?"

Illya blushed as she remembered that first battle that had ended with her then-evil-clone being naked.

"Incoming," Ruby said helpfully.

Illya darted to the side, mindful of not flying too high lest she get caught in the crossfire of Nanoha and Vita's battle, to evade a couple of crystals trailing long rope-like threads of green energy. The crystals suddenly turned, their threads trailing after them. Illya raised a shield, but the crystals just went around it. It was, obviously, a homing attack, and likely some kind of capture technique. It didn't really take much to figure that out. Honestly, she'd seen attacks exactly like it on _Trope-Tan Organization the TV_!

Though unfortunately, she couldn't actually remember any instance where they were used that didn't end in capture…

Well, in that case…

"Ruby, wide-area shotgun blast!" Illya cried, throwing back her arm and smoothly waving Ruby on the return. The blast shot forth, fitting the ground beneath and in front of her. There was a violent eruption, throwing up dust in an obscuring screen as the crystals flew into it. There was a short scream soon afterwards.

Shamal allowed herself a small, grim smile, ignoring the screaming voice in her head telling her these were Hayate's friends, and tugged on threads, intending to pull Illya into view to better judge the firing angle to finish her off.

A metal drum was suddenly flying at her face, wrapped in her Device's threads, and she hastily threw it aside, frowning. This wasn't the first time that someone had tried to use a smokescreen to avoid her attack, and thus she knew better than to be fooled by it, directing the crystals with something besides her own eyes. Still, it looked like this girl had a new trick for evading. She turned back to the settling cloud as the drum bounced and then rolled to a ponderous stop not far from her…

Wait. _Ponderous_ stop?

The drum exploded, and Shamal barely managed to raise a shield. Even as she did, shrapnel-like shards tore at the fringes of her armor, slicing through it. She felt a sudden burning sensation as a shard imbedded itself in her arm, and she cried out in surprise. While she wasn't unfamiliar with pain, her support role meant she wasn't used to sudden instantaneous bursts of it. The rest, fortunately, where deflected by her shield.

Illya streaked from where's she'd been hiding inside the former drum, Ruby drawn back, a mallet-head now topping the end of the staff. "Ruby, speed burst!" she cried, and she suddenly shot forward, Ruby poised to strike. "Maximum power to the strike! Break through anything she has!"

Shamal turned, Book in hand, instinctively raising a hand and calling forth a shield, but it broke like sugar glass before the force of Illya's blow. Illya prepared to strike on the backswing, but the Book of Darkness began to glow, red shining on the designs traced on it.

A wave of force exploded from Shamal, blasting Illya back. The girl gave a pained cry as her shoulder slammed against the ground, feeling the bruise already growing there. She'd hadn't had time to reallocate her energy after the speed boost.

Before she could recover, however, a scream pierced the air.

Shamal's.

Illya got to her feet, staring at her opponent, eyes widening. _Something_ was pouring out of the book in Shamal's hands, pouring down the surprised and screaming knight's arm and covering her, staining her with its inky blackness. Something that made Illya's insides roil as she recognized it. She could feel it, feel it in a way she was shocked to realize had nothing to do with primal senses of flight or fight, or the added powers that Ruby gave her. She could feel it in her soul, twisting as a fiery sensation against her skin. Was this was what feeling magic was like?

Whatever it was, she knew that sensation, knew that dread in her stomach feeling it invoked. It was the taint, the Ultimate Evil.

It was the corruption of the Grail.

She couldn't help it. She screamed too.

Shamal's clothes were darkening, her hair and skin becoming washed out. Already, her eyes glowed gold, and crimson lines were erupting over her Knight Armor. The expression on her face was flat and merciless, contrasting with the screams of pain still rising from her mouth .

She heard a cry behind her, and saw Signum breaking away from Fate, the pink-haired knight trying to reach out to the blonde. A surprised Fate followed after her, disoriented from the suddenly interrupted fight.

"SHAMAL!" Signum called out moving towards her.

…_get… away…_

The voice echoed in their heads, weak and thready. It faded away just as the screams did, the latter abruptly cut off as if with a switch. Shamal turned to look coldly at them, her dress now in shades of black and darkest gray, covered with angular, crimson lines. Her now gauzy, lace-like, semi-transparent skirt revealed her legs, and the new hole in her now-tight, corseted bodice covered by glowing swirls gave a very fan-servicey view of her chest.

In Illya's hands, Ruby twitched. "Isn't this sort of an inappropriate time to insert fanservice?"

They ignored her.

"Signum," Shamal said, her voice now cold and hard. "I believe you have bungled collecting power for our mistress enough. You have outlived your usefulness."

The Book suddenly began to glow.

"_Divine Buster._"

Signum had no time to react as a beam of green light streaked through with twisting black lines slammed into her. She was flung back, voice crying in agony as she was engulfed by the attack, flying through the air as she struck a building behind her. The building last all of two heartbeats before it was destroyed by the overwhelming force, Signum flying through what was left of it.

"NO!" Fate cried, suddenly flickering and disappearing as she raced after the knight.

"HEY!" Illya cried. "Don't leave me here!"

She turned to look with horror at Shamal, trying to get to her feet even as panic began to gnaw at her. The possessed knight turned to her, eyes empty of anything vaguely human. Illya's hands tightened on Ruby. The Kaleidostick was shivering in her hands. It wasn't an observation to inspire confidence. Illya gulped…

… and that was when a brilliant pink beam of energy, glowing a bright, shining emerald at its center, shot down from the sky and slammed directly in front of Shamal.

The point exploded, and both Ruby and Illya yelped in surprise as she frantically waved the staff, raising a defensive shield. Illya, low to the ground, was relatively unaffected by the miss, but Shamal, unshielded and nearly on ground zero, was thrown back, skidding over the ground before she abruptly stopped and righted herself, floating in the air.

… and that was when an entire school of giant sharks with chainsaw teeth and gatling guns on their heads dropped out of the sky and tried to rip Shamal apart.

"Move, it fool!"

Illya suddenly found herself being tackled as Vita suddenly appeared out of the sky, singed, smoking, her hem now uneven and smelling strongly of ozone, pulling her away from Shamal as Nanoha coordinated her sharks, trying to bring Shamal down.

Illya turned at her unexpected rescuer in surprise. "W-wheh–? "Illya said eruditely. "W-why are you saving me?"

Vita give her an intense, angry glare that made Illya shrink back slightly, though something told her the anger wasn't at her directly. "We owe Archer," was all the knight said.

"_Kilipl Astrape." _

The sharks were all ripped apart as the Anti-Army lightning spell erupted right on Vita and Illya's heels, tearing apart what was left of the landscape. Vita was swearing as they got out of the way, suddenly sent tumbling by the shockwave that came a moment later, sending them flying across the ground, eating dirt. She vaguely heard Green Lantern's cry as she was caught in the area of the spell.

Fortunately, Illya's physical shields were up now, and all she felt was a hard thump as she landed and slid. Having Vita land on top of her was only slightly more painful .

"_**Traitor!**_" Shamal declared coldly, turning her eyes towards Vita.

The knight gritted her teeth, getting to her feet. "Fight it, Shamal!" she cried. "Something's got you! You have to fight it! This isn't you!"

For a moment, Shamal looked blankly at her. And then her hand snapped up, the rings on her hands trailing crimson light as two of the crystals shot forward, trailing lines of energy behind them. Vita tensed, hammer rising–

She jerked, staring down in horror at the hand erupting from her chest, clutching her linker core.

"Armor Override successful," Shamal said, voice unchanging as one hand stuck through the Mirror of Travel's she'd cast. "No mercy to traitors. Serve Hayate in death. Download."

Illya could only watch as Vita screamed, fading away, leaving only a pile of children's clothes that were bown away in the wind…

"NO!" she heard Nanoha cry from above. "Vita-chan!"

Illya felt the hairs on the back of her neck tingle and rise as another stream of pink and green energy streaked for Shamal from above, this one straight and true, aiming for her center of mass. The corrupted knight's hand swung, a the air above her ripping. "_Silence Wall_" she intoned as the beam was blocked, stopped cold.

Something flickered out of the corner of Illya's eye, a pink blur that streaked for Shamal like a bullet.

The other hand moved, too fast to see, the Book not leaving it's position floating above it. "_Trace, on,_" Shamal said, and Illya's blood ran cold. There was a shower of blood and a surprised cry. Thump.

"_Downloading…_"

"NO! Signum!" she vaguely heard Fate cry.

Illya found herself beginning to shake. "No…" she began to mutter, eyes wide, staring at the fallen form that was already beginning to fade, leaving only a set of clothes. "No… no fighting… no fighting…"

Another blur, this one leaving a blazing golden contrail, even as another beam shot down from the skies…

She could hear Ruby yelling, telling her to move…

"…no fighting… no fighting…" she said, unable to stop, unable to turn her eyes away…

"_Shinmei Ryu Jutsu:Shin Raikouken._"

The world cracked, and Illya was blasted back, tumbling. When she stopped, the world was sideways, and she blurrily saw a shining green figure falling from the sky as a small form with glowing gold wings stumbled and did not move.

…_no…no…_

Shamal turned to regard her. Their eyes met. Golden eyes blazed.

"… no… no…" Illya found herself breathing. In her hands, Ruby was struggling to move. Illya realized her hands were aching from their death-grip, but couldn't find it in herself to let go.

Shamal stepped torward.

A single name left Illya's lips even as she felt her Command Seal burn.

"_Berserker…_"

...

The city was quiet. Too quiet.

"What the hell just happened?-!-?-!-?-!" Alisa cried as they walked through the streets, streets that had until moments ago been filled with people walking, cars running. Now, the people were gone, and the cars stood idle and dead on the road still as if someone had taken all their batteries at once.

Suzuka looked about worriedly. Was this one of those 'Invasions of evil forces from another dimension' they had drills in school about? It sort of looked like it. Everything was eerie, bathed in a slightly green light…

Wait. Green?

She looked up.

"Hmm? Hey Suzuka, what are you looking at?" Alisa said, also craning her head back to look.

They both stared.

"My knowledge of old American movies is a bit rusty," Alisa said impassively, "but isn't Gozer appearing a sign of the end of the world?"

"I think so, yes," Suzuka said, just as impassively.

They both kept staring.

"Well, crap," Alisa said succinctly.

"I," Suzuka said quite clearly. "Am going to die a virgin."

There was a beat.

"Alisa, that was your cue to make some kind of comment about remedying that."

"Suzuka, you're always really weird after you've talked to your cousin Tomoyo over the phone, so I'm going to be a good friend and pretend you didn't say anything."

"Can't you be a good friend and–"

"NO!"

A sigh.

"I am going to die a virgin."

"If you don't shut up about that, it's going to be because I beat you to death with my bag."

"Sorry."

"Good. Now, let's put all those tax yen they've been spending on 'Forces of evil invade' drills to good use and find shelter, and maybe a magical girl or two, shall we?"

"And then, maybe–?"

"NO!"

"Fine, no need to bite my head off… unless you feel like–"

"Suzuka, I swear, if you don't shut up about that–!"

They bickered on as they ran.

...

**- To be continued...**

...

A/N: I have no idea where that came from…

Signum keeps getting blasted through walls, isn't she?

Credit for _Schwalbe Schwarm_ goes to Zeranion, for the base idea.

Berserker was in spirit form when they were teleported, and wasn't caught in the effect.

Shorter than I'd like, but I was running out of inspiration, and since reviews are good for those…

Still, the end is nigh… maybe five more chaps to go?

Please review, C&C welcome. Lots of reviews and C & C. Really, I need it, else I might develop writer's block.

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	24. The Dark Knight

A/N: I'm having a 2814 crossover with Overmaster's 'Unequally Rational and Emotional'. The crossover is entirely self-contained, and UR&E is absolutely WONDERFUL by itself. I suggest you read it.

...

Takamachi Nanoha of 2814

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 24: The Dark Knight

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story. If I did… well, this would all be canon. WARNING: MAY CAUSE HEAD EXPLOSION!

...

_24/12- Earlier_

All right, this was getting uncomfortable.

Gilgamesh had been a novelty yesterday, a male that, against all previous historical precedent, wasn't out to steal Mamoru away from Usagi; wasn't out to steal Usagi from Mamoru; wasn't out to steal Hearts, Soul, Star Seeds, Dreams, Fantasies, or kitchen sinks; wasn't here to destroy or dominate the world (though, granted, there was a bit of a question mark regarding the latter) and had, for good or ill, seemed to have absolutely no interest in the girls whatsoever. It was kinda freaky, actually. They weren't sure how to handle associating with men who weren't up to anything.

This probably said bad things about their social development.

Gilgamesh had appeared that morning outside of Mamoru's apartment like a creepy stalker (which at least was slightly familiar territory: again, see social development), and had set himself to following Mamoru around. From what Ami had managed to put together from what little Gilgamesh would volunteer, Mamoru's quite frankly nearly non-existent recollections which by his own admission might possibly be confused with indigestion dreams and Artemis and Luna's only slightly more reliable swiss-cheesed recollections, Gilgamesh was acting as Mamoru's self-appointed 'attendant', since Usagi was always accompanied by _her_ attendants (namely, the Senshi), out of some strange sense of etiquette. Or something. It was kinda vague.

What followed was a filler-episode's worth of zany hijinks as the Senshi, at Usagi's cock-blocked request, tried to keep Gilgamesh occupied long enough so that Usagi could get a little sugar, with similar filler episode hilarity ensuing. Haruka and Michiru seemed to find the activities amusing, Makoto and Minako dived into it with fervent enthusiasm, Setsuna with alcohol withdrawn single-mindedness, Rei had of course been exasperated, and Ami and Hotaru had wisely kept their heads down. The only thing missing had been some kind of monster attack from their latest enemy.

A pity that. It would have given everyone something to take their frustrations out on.

When, after a frustrating day of said zany hijinks, they arrived at Crown to find their favorite table was occupied…

Usagi, Ami, Rei, Minako, Makoto and Mamoru all felt slightly disturbed déjà vu vibes as they saw the pink-haired girl, a teenager wearing, strangely enough, a nurse's outfit..

Then she'd smiled at them, and recognition had come crashing down like a broken piñata. "Hi, minna-san! It's been a while."

"_Chibi-Usa!_"

The group hug that followed had resulted in several bruises from being squashed against the edge of the table.

Gilgamesh frowned. "Who is this?"

...

_24/12- Fuyuki City. Now._

Kuro was making inappropriate advances at Shiro under Luvia and Rin's fuming gazes when she felt a sudden choking sensation at her neck. She stumbled back in surprise from the uncomfortable Shiro, clutching at her shirt's collar, only for the pressure to suddenly ease.

"W-what…?" she said in surprise. "The hell?"

Shiro blushed. "Kuro-chan, you shouldn't–"

Kuro didn't catch the rest of his words as she suddenly lost her sense of balance, tumbling to the floor in confusion as she felt like she was being pummeled on all sides, before this also stopped abruptly. She barely managed to get off the floor when her shoulder suddenly exploded in pain.

"AH!" she cried, more surprised than hurt, clutching at the pained segment. "What the hell is going on?-!"

Then her eyes widened, and she turned to Miyu, who'd been dragged along to the house my Luvia. "Miyu… Where's Illya?"

The magical girl maid's eyes widened.

Kuro swore.

...

_24/12- Here. Now._

Shamal ignored Nanoha for the time being. The girl's Linker Core had already been harvested, and was now useless to them. There was no need to bother with her. She focused on the blonde, lying collapsed on the ground, her glowing wings gone, her nearly non-existent barrier jacket useless. _Her_ Linker Core was still untaken, and would likely provide excellent power. Shamal raised the book before her…

…and that's when someone threw a car at her.

There was no shadow in her peripheral vision, no movement out of the corner of her eye to warn her. One minute she was stalking to her pray, the next she was hit by the full force of a small compact sedan made for fuel efficiency. Her Knight Armor and Klarwind's auto protect system kept her from serious harm, but it still felt like… well, like someone had thrown a car at her.

She whirled, golden eyes scanning, but the darkness revealed nothing… including a marked lack of Magical Girls. Her eyes narrowed, and she raised a hand, preparing to cast a search spell…

… and _that's_ when she got hit in the face by a ball that exploded in a cloud of tear gas.

Her cries of pain echoed through the night.

...

Beneath his mask, Berserker smiled grimly at the distant sound as he laid the three girls on the ground, hidden from view and a long way off. Illya's eyes were half-closed, and she looked like she was in shock, and slightly delirious. She was still so small, so young, so innocent. Why did it have to be like this? Damn, but he hated time travel.

"Berserker… save us…" Illya mumbled, eyes unfocused.

Gently, he pried open her fingers, taking Ruby from their failing grip.

"Hey, what do you think you–" Ruby said, then cut off as Berserker's Noble Phantasm, _Knight of Justice_, took effect, taking control of the wand-shaped Mystic Code. For a moment, he felt a pang of guilt at compromising the wand's personality, but it was a distant thing, sealed away by the walls of will raised by his Noble Phantasm, _Oath Against All Evil,_ that kept back the mind-destroying nature of the Berserker class. Black lines began to grow and twist along the Kaleidostick's length from the point of contact, slowly lengthening it and changing its shape and color as he stuck it in his belt, the Noble Phantasm opening up and making a space for the new acquisition as he took Illya's Class Cards.

She stirred slightly, legs twitching. "Onii-chan…" she muttered dreamily, lips smiling. "Miyu-chan…"

Berserker's eyebrow twitched. Even after all these years, he was _**NEVER**_ going to get used to that particular arrangement.

Straightening hurriedly, he turned towards the other two sleeping Magical Girls. It was jarring not to see Fate in bright yellow. She'd worn the color for most of when he'd known her. He made himself relax as he approached Nanoha. There was no chance she'd suddenly regain consciousness and start hissing and snarling about her _preciousss_ and her High Priestess, not yet, not now. Still, reflexes of several years were hard to shrug off, especially for him. Most of his reflexes were life-preserving. Kneeling down next to the, he got to work…

...

Zafira was getting concerned. He'd lost telepathic contact with the others, which wasn't necessarily a bad sign, but it was worrying. The city-wide isolation barrier wasn't helping, even it if _was_ one of _their_ spells. That strange, pale-haired woman they'd encountered before fighting Archer had been able to cast Ancient Belkan spells as well. Could this be her doing? It was enough to start growing the seed of worry as he sought out the other Wolkenritter.

The giant green things in the sky weren't helping either. Wasn't that the marshmallow thing from a few days ago, when all those giant monsters suddenly appeared?

The constructs stopped, and there were several a few large spells. A crack of thunder, a stream of light, and then nothing. He wasn't sure if that boded well of not.

When he arrived at the battle sight, or what had been the battle sight, all was still. Demolished buildings stood silent and forlorn, and a few discarded clothes clapped and tumbled about in the night breeze. There was no sign of anyone, enemy or friend. The hair on the back of his neck wanted to crawl off, but he forced it down, inhaling deeply, trying to get a scent.

He nearly gagged at a strange, unholy scent of corruption… behind him.

Zafira whirled, foot lashing out with a cry of "ZAFIRA KICK!", aiming for a dark, crimson-etched shadow standing behind him. The shadow stumbled back, moving from the patch of shadow and into the relative brightness of the street closer to the lights.

"Zafira, you fool, it's me," Shamal growled.

Zafira froze, taking it in. Black armor. Crimson lines. Golden eyes.

"So, it has taken you too," he said. His eyes drifted to the book that floated over her hand, now colored along the same theme. "And the Book. And Archer-san is no longer here…"

"Oh, he is still with us in spirit, Zafira," Shamal said, golden eyes hooded. She raised her hand. "Trace–"

With a growl, Zafira tackled her, form shifting from man to beast in a confused blur, tackling the blonde knight. Shamal hissed, and the shadows beneath her writhed, turning into a surging mass the slammed into the Guardian Beast from below, knocking the wind out of him and sending him flying back. He caught himself in midair, darting sideways as the shadows continued upward like a hammer. Not daring to push of from it, he streaked forward, crafting a shield in front of him like a battering ram. More shadows leapt to meet him, and brute force fought brute force. The shadows flowed around the shield, parting like a length of reed.

Shamal darted back, free arm waving wide as the Book of Darkness pulsed, a strange, dark liquid flowing from it down Shamal's arm. A ball of brilliant light coalesced before her and with a cry of "Deep Submerge!", the attack streaked at Zafira. He caught it on his shield, which broke like so much sugar glass. It slammed hard into him, throwing him back, the shadows behind him untangling and catching him in its threads. He flailed about, attacking it with a will. Bright spikes of light erupted along the length of the shadows and out of the ground, but the shadows just seemed to multiply, more and more threads coming together, trapping him. They wrapped around him, capturing his limbs, binding his muzzle. Soon, the Soei-jutsu had him trapped, unable to move.

Shamal slowly came forward, making a show of flicking lint off her armor. "Another traitor," she announced coldly. "You attack me, just as Vita and Signum did. You have allowed yourselves to be drawn away from Hayate-sama's service. Your usefulness has ended. Your life will be sacrificed for the greater glory of our queen."

Zafira snarled, screaming in full telepathy. _WOULD YOU LISTEN TO YOURSELF, SHAMAL?-!-?-!-? _he cried. _Something's wrong with you! Since __**when**__ have you called her 'Hayate-sama'?_

Shamal paused. For a moment, just a moment, her eyes flickered from gold to their usual color.

The Book of Darkness pulsed, its crimson lines glowing, the strange, thick liquid flowing from it seeming to shudder as it oozed onto Shamal's hand, seemingly bonding to her flesh, absorbed. Her eyes became gold once more. "Your disrespect reveals itself. Perish now, traitor. _Download._"

The Book turned, and Zafira gave a muffled scream as his Linker Core was extracted, the little point of light rising from his flesh…

…Shamal barely turned in time to raise a shield as a lamppost was swung at her. The end of the post shattered, shrapnel flying everywhere as it was destroyed with its own force.

"I am not so unintelligent to fall for the same tactic twice," Shamal said, turning towards her attacker. Even with the light from her spells and the little ambient city light within the barrier, the being holding the other end of the post was nearly impossible to see, a vague, night-colored blob at the other end of the impromptu weapon. "Nanoha's simple search spell was sufficient for keeping watch around m–"

And that was when the street beneath her _exploded_, the blast shooting force and shrapnel at her and away from Zafira as shaped charges in the sewers under her feet did their work. The altered knight was flung back, even as Zafira faded away, not even leaving a pile of clothes behind.

Shamal bounced, the Book of Darkness never leaving her hand, sliding slightly on the rubble. Her face was lacerated, and blood was pouring freely across her face, though her armor's aura had protected her from the worst of the damage. Her glare was murderous. One hand thrust into the air. "_Practe Biginar!_ _Hekatontakis Kai Kiliakis Astrapsato! KILIPL ASTRAPE!_" The entire area was leveled as the anti-army lightning spell ripped its way outward, buildings exploding, the ground around Shamal literally _melting _under the magical assault. Molten asphalt flowed, and the street caught fire as the tar was melted and ignited.

Flames billowed around her, but she didn't care, her armor protecting her from the heat just as Nanoha's had. She hovered over the burning street, everything around her clear as far as the eye could see. Buildings had been leveled, and those further back had either collapsed, were on fire, had huge gaping holes from either the shockwave or parts of other buildings crashing through them, or some combination of all three. There was no longer any cover to be had, and flames all over the place provided brighter light then the city light had.

Not far away, in the midst of this, a lone figure stood, clad in unnatural black, flickering back into existence. Hit tall, horned helm with its strange, eye-wrenching curves and spikes did not gleam in the firelight, the metal dulled, somehow seeming to eat the light.

"You are becoming quite an irritation," Shamal snarled, the crimson lines of her dress pulsing.

Berserker said nothing, body still except for the way his cape was blown about by the fire's heat.

Shamal's yes narrowed. "I believe your core will be sufficient to complete the Book at last."

"_**Yes…**_" Berserker rumbled, and delicately balanced masonry fell over as his voice reverberated through hthe night. "_**It will…**_"

"Surrender, and it shall be painless," Shamal said, then pausing, a cruel smile playing on her lips, made all the more eerie by the curtain of blood on her face. "Mostly."

Silence.

For a moment, the two stared at each other in the light of the flames.

Then they attacked.

...

Fate Testarossa was having a very nice dream. She wasn't quite sure as to the details, but it involved being married to Nanoha and having a cute little kid, a girl, who called them both 'Mama', and being a family, so that was all right.

"_Fate-chan…_"

Fate smacked her lips unconsciously, smiling despite the cold as, in her dreams, Nanoha made her lunch wearing nothing but an apron…

"_Fate-chan…_"

"Nanoha-chan…" Fate muttered in her sleep as Nanoha cutely tripped, spilling sauce all over herself.

"_Fate-chan…"_

Fate, being the good wife that she was, helped Nanoha out of the apron while their daughter– who looked strangely like Vivio-chan, which was weird, because she hadn't thought of the 'Power Ranger' in a while– went off to save the world with her friends, helping her get the sauce off…

"_Fate-chan!_"

"Hmm, Nanoha-chan…" Fate murmured. "Oh, the floor's clean… we can–"

"_**YO! REAPER-CHAN!**_" Poke!

Fate jerked awake, nearly braining Illya on the forehead as she rose. The other magical girl yelped, falling back and landing on her butt.

_A long way away, Kuro winced as pain lanced through her rear. "If she's getting kinky-spanked without me…" she grumbled._

"Fate-chan!" Nanoha said, clutching a length of pipe. She looked dusty, as if she'd been through a construction site during a windy day. "Good, you're up."

"Blergh?" Fate said intelligently, rubbing her head where it ached from lying on the ground. Then she blinked. "Nanoha-chan? Why aren't you wearing your uniform?"

Nanoha held up her left hand. Fate stared. "That's bad, isn't it?" the blonde said.

Nanoha nodded grimly, hefting her length of pipe. "And that's not the only thing that's gone."

It took Fate a moment to realize. "Bardiche?" she called out, looking around, as if she'd just misplaced the Device. "Bardiche?-!"

"Gone," Illya said, picking up another length of pipe, swinging it with rather wilder abandon than Nanoha had, nearly hitting the Green Lantern. "Er, sorry. So is Ruby, my Class Cards and Raging Heart." Illya winced. "Rin is _**SO**_ going to kill me…!"

Fate blinked. "But… what?"

At that moment, the world seemed to end. A solid wall of sound attacked Fate's eardrums, but before she could clamp her hands over her ears, an enormous shockwave passed over them, making the buildings creak, things to fall, and knocking Nanoha and Illya off their feet. She could _feel_ the rumbling in her bones, feel the stone under her vibrating beneath her. It went on an on, going for seconds before subsiding, leaving an eerie silence behind. She knew those vibrations, had made them herself, though never so much.

Someone had just unleashed a _ton_ of lightning. And the nagging thing was, she'd thought she'd heard this particular spell before. Her lingering heterosexuality beat the rest of her to the punch, pulling up a card prominently labeled 'Negi Springfield Trivia'. "That… that sounded like Negi's _Thousand Bolts_ spell!" she said.

"What?" Illya yelled, one finger stuck in her ear, trying to clear it. "I can't hear you!"

"What?" Nanoha yelled, puffing out her cheeks as she tried to get her ears to pop. "I can't hear you! I think I've gone deaf! Wasn't that Negi's _Thousand Bolts _spell?"

"What?-!" Fate cried. "Sorry, I can't hear you, I think I've gone deaf! Can you speak louder?"

"Sorry, what was that?-!" Illya yelled. "Can you speak louder? I think I've gone deaf!"

_Kuro winced, puffing out her cheeks and sticking her finger in her ears. "Hey, can you all speak a little louder?-!" she suddenly yelled, making everyone jump. "I think Illya's just gone deaf!"_

After a while of yelling at each other like idiots, Fate slapped herself on the forehead. _Hey, can you hear this?_ she sent telepathically.

"YES!" Nanoha and Illya yelled.

_I think that was Negi's _Thousand Bolts _spell, _Fate said.

Nanoha frowned and concentrated. It was much, _much_ harder to do this without Raging Heart, but she hadn't gotten her ring because she gave up when things got tough. _I think so too, _she sent as Illya looked at them expectantly. _But… it seems a bit too soon for backup. _

_Who else could it be? _Fate sent.

_I don't know,_ Nanoha said. _That's what worries me._

"_**EXCUSE ME!**_" Illya cried, startling them as they finally heard it. "_**BUT NOT EVERYONE HERE IS TELEPATHIC!**_"

Both Magical Girls blushed. _Sorry_, they murmured.

Fate looked around, noticing a third length of pipe lying on the ground. She picked it up, hefting it and finding it to her liking. It was no scythe, but it would do as a melee weapon. _Can either of you fly? _she asked.

Illya shook her head. Nanoha frowned, her forehead furrowing in concentration. Near her feet, pink light flickered, and a circle appeared beneath her. Little points of light coalesced near her ankles, but they flickered and died. Nanoha soon shook her head. _Sorry. It's too hard for me to do without Raging Heart. Maybe you can give me tips after all this is over, Fate-chan. You seem to do it so easily!_

_It'll be my pleasure, _Fate responded, smiling.

Next to them, Illya smirked, and began whistling a grade-school song about sitting in trees and K-I-S-S-I-N-G. Fortunately for Fate and her blushes, both were still too deaf to hear it.

_We need to find Shamal, see what happened,,_ Nanoha continued, looking up. _I think we're still inside the barrier, and according to my cell phone, it hasn't been that long. Fate-chan, can you fly above us, scout out the area?_

Fate nodded. She spun her pipe. _It's awfully convenient there were these pipes lying around._

"_**CONVENIENT NOTHING!**_" Illya yelled. "_**BERSERKER LEFT THEM! HE CAN DO THINGS LIKE THAT! HAS A NOBLE PHANTASM FOR IT!**_"

Nanoha stuck a finger in her ears. "I think we can start talking normally again, Illya-chan," she said, only a little bit louder than usual.

"Oh. Sorry."

Nanoha nodded. "Let's go. Lead on, Fate-chan. Illya-chan, stay behind me and watch our backs. Yell right away if you see any movement."

Illya looked around the ghost town that surrounded them. "No problem there," she said. "Let's get out of the woods and find the Blair Witch, shall we?"

They moved, Fate floating above and reporting through telepathy as Nanoha gathered what power she could into three Divine Shooters, stalking through the empty city…

...

Alisa and Suzuka picked themselves off the ground where the shockwave had thrown them.

"I swear, this city is getting weirder and weirder," Alisa said.

"_**WHAT?**_" Suzuka cried, sticking her finger in her ear and puffing out her cheeks. "_**SORRY, I CAN'T HEAR YOU! I THINK I'VE GONE DEAF!**_"

"_**WHAT WAS THAT?**_" Alisa cried. "_**SORRY, I'VE GONE DEAF! WHAT DID YOU SAY?-!**_"

...

The pain was intense.

Hayate clutched at her chest and struggled not to cry. Her insides were… she couldn't think of a good enough metaphor for the agony. Clamps, vices, fires, lava and such didn't seem up to it, though 'being forced to read Twilight' probably came close.

The pain was everything. It filled her world. No, it defined it, marking out all there was. She didn't notice how the hospital had gone oddly silent, didn't notice the flashes of light out her window, and barely heard the sound of not-so-distant thunder. There was only the pain…

...

The instant they moved, Shamal nearly destroyed Berserker instantly.

"Trace, on! _Gae Bolg!_"

The crimson spear came into being, cause and effect already bent over on its lap and being spanked like the bitch it was as the weapon relentlessly sought Berserker's heart. It streaked forward, flying straight and true, and Berserker's armor crumpled in front, tearing as a way to his heart was punched through.

Berserker's gauntleted fist swept, catching Gae Bolg's head in his fist bare inches from his chest, twisting to absorb the energy. Cause and effect reassessed the situation, leaving Berserker unharmed as he flipped the spear over in his hands, its form already changing as his Noble Phantasm, _Knight of Justice, _claimed the weapon for himself, his prana pouring into the weapon, veins growing on it, altering it. Already, it began to grow black, twists and thorns growing on it.

The spear spun in his hand, its butt tracing a wide, scything arc that coincided with Shamal's head. Shamal's head jerked back, ki and magic flowing through her as power gathered in her hands, which she slammed together in front of her. "_Kankaho! Super Iaiken!_"

Berserker blurred, flickering across the field as the enormous blast of the chi-reinforced attack passed through where he'd been, Gae Bolg spinning in his hands. he lunged, the point aiming for the Book of Darkness. Shamal reacted instantly, blurring herself with a cry of "_Shundo!_", skidding to one side. Berserker never lost momentum, the spearpoint swinging to slash into the ground, tearing and sending up a huge wave of rocky debris flying at her exposed back. Shadows surged upwards, the threads weaving themselves into a defensive shield, protecting her.

Berserker reversed his grip on the weapon, throwing the spear with a cry of "_Gae Bolg: Lance of Death Flight!_". It pierced through the shadows like a bullet through butter, slamming into the ground on the other side and exploding. The blast wave was strangely muted somehow, softer in a strange way.

Shamal was nowhere in range.

Something besides firelight lit up the field.

Berserker looked up.

"_Sagitta Magica!_" Shamal intoned. "_Convergentia Fulguralis!_"

A thousand and one lightning arrows streaked downwards. Berserker's hand flashed to his belt.

Everything within a hundred yards of him exploded in lightning.

"_Sagitta Magica! Convergentia Fulguralis!_"

More lightning. More destruction.

"_**Sagitta Magica! Convergentia Fulguralis!**_**"**

The air screamed. Static crackled in the air as raw power struck.

"_**SAGITTA MAGICA! CONVERGENTIA FULGURALIS!**_**"**

Sewer gas caught fire as the destruction penetrated deep into the Earth, expanding the zone of destruction.

Shamal lowered her hands, panting with exertion, the dark fluid flowing from the Book of Darkness pulsing where it bonded to her, feeding her dark power.

From within the dust cloud raised, a brilliant ray of shining navy blue light suddenly blazed, and a deep, resonant voice cried through the night, making Shamal's sternum vibrate, her very bones shake. "_Lyrical! Magical! Divine Buster… MAXIMUM POWER!_"

The dust cloud exploded outward as a line of light tore through the sky, lighting the city bright as day as it screamed up at Shamal. It struck even as she raised her hands to defend, the eruption of colliding forces bursting into a spray across the sky.

The beam died, and Shamal was finally able to lower the Silence Wall she had barely raised in time.

At ground zero, Berserker stood, a bright blue Mid-Childan magic circle slowly turning beneath him. In his gauntleted hands lay Raging Heart, the Device's form longer now, surface veined with dark lines, even as it's central gem shined with power.

"Target remains," Raging Heart reported. "Reacquiring targeting lock. Preparing for maximum power output!"

Berserker lowered the staff. "_**Switch to standby mode…**_" he ordered as he hung the device from his belt. "_**Ring, flight mode…**_"

"Command acknowledged," Ring-chan said, shining on one of Berserker's fingers, dark lines also covering it in a fine array. "User is unauthorized, but command is acknowledged. Stupid psycho-reactive plasmic-energy hi-jacking my functions…"

"Magic," Raging Heart corrected.

"THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS MAGIC!" Ring-chan asserted. "I'm filing a complaint with the Guardians about this, this must surely be some kind of hardware error…"

Beneath his mask, Berserker's lips twitched. He'd almost forgotten how funny these two were.

An aura of emerald light, solidified Will Power, surrounded him as he took flight, drawing Bardiche from his belt. The dark Device, too, was covered in glowing lines.

"_**Bardiche…**_" he ordered. "_**Zanber Form…**_"

He rose into the air, even as the Device in his hand changed, his prana altering it into converting his energy into a blue blade as large as he was which erupted from the newly formed hilt…

...

Fate stopped in midair, shading her eyes at the brilliance, as below her Nanoha and Illya did the same.

"What on Earth…?" Nanoha gasped.

"Wow," Illya said. "Looks like someone else likes big deathrays too, Green Lantern-chan."

Nanoha's face set in determination. "Let's go!" she cried, breaking into a run.

Illya sighed, but followed after. "Yeah, let's all run towards where the big explosions are when we have no way to do magic," she muttered. "Yeah, that's a _very_ smart idea…"

...

"_Deep… SUBMERGE!_" Shamal intoned, launching the shining green ball of light at her opponent.

Berserker dodged, an emerald contrail sparkling behind him, the attack missing him by a wide margin. Glowing green as he did, he no longer faded so completely into the background of the night, but it still wrenched the eyes to look at him, directly or indirectly. Cape spreading behind him like wings of darkness, he charged at Shamal, Bardiche in hand. It was in scythe form now, its haft and metal head bearing spikes, twists and curved angles that hadn't been there before, making it look demonic, its deep blue blade scything through the air as Berserker launched it like a boomerang.

Shamal dodged, shields raised in both hands, and was in time to parry the veritable cloud of small, dark, curved metal blades that had hidden in the luminescence of the thrown scythe. They detonated on her shield in a mix of electrical surges, gouts of flame, bursts of freezing cold, explosions of some kind of goop, clouds of noxious and eye-stinging gases, flashes of intense light and ear-piercing shrieks of sound. She wavered in midair, dazed, as Berserker closed in.

The shadow-constructs appeared out of the darkness itself, androgynous humanoid forms seemingly wearing dark cloaks and pale white masks. They leapt at Berserker in the dozens, hands tipped with claws, swarming him, ripping, tearing.

They were… underwhelming.

A slash from Bardiche tore all the closest ones apart, giving him some breathing room to swing the chains wrapped around his forearms. The silent, thorned chain on his left arm whirled, threshing shadow constructs as if they were grain, tracing complicated arcs through the night air, destroying anything it passed through. Sheer numbers meant some still made it through, yet their claws scrambled ineffectually at Berserker's armor, which repelled them with laughable ease. Yet there were dozens of them, and despite how easily they were destroyed, sheer force of mass pushed Berserker back away from Shamal, who was recovering from his attack.

Designs began to trace themselves on her skin on top of the crimson lines of the corruption, and her face twisted in agony. She didn't stop however, her arms moving through forms in midair. "_Actus Noctis Erebea!_" she cried, both a declaration and a scream of pain as her skin darkened, brilliant swirling designs growing from the backs of her hands and down her arms. With another cry, she cast, the spell leaving her with a pained cry of "_Death Reborn Revolution!_". It was perfectly silent as it erupted, the ribbons collapsing into an invisible ball of energy that was absorbed into Shamal's form. Her body rippled, changing as it took on the shear entropic power, glowing deep purple at the edges of her outline, trailing streamers of ribbon-like energy trailing from her body at every movement.

With a snarl, she leapt at Berserker even as one hand snapped down to his belt, seeking ribbons erupting from her outstretched right arm. The ribbons leapt at him, curling to either side as if to encompass him, only to trap nothing but empty air as he seemed to fade out into the night itself.

"_Contract Established!_" a voice cried out, and Shamal whirled, trying to seek it. "_Compact Full Open! Expanding Connection to Alternate Realities!_"

There was a burst of light, wind and power as the air filled with rainbow-colored sparkles

"_The New Kaleido Ruby!_" Ruby declared loudly. "_Mahou Servant Prisma Berserker!_"

Berserker floated in midair, the lines of his claimed weapons now glowing with rainbow light. He looked more streamlined somehow, more… knightly? His hand, the one not holding Ruby, returned Bardiche to his belt, drawing out a card. An enormous magical array erupted beneath him, lighting the sky.

"_Class Card, Archer!_" Berserker called out, voice no longer so rough, instead ringing loud and clear, a resonant beacon. "_Install!_"

There was light.

Ruby faded away becoming a part of his form, channeling the power of the Class Card, opening a way to the Throne of Heroes to call forth the power one soul from it, one hero…

Shamal ignored the light, surging forward, ribbons, so many ribbons bursting from her, coming in all directions...

"_Trace, ON!_"

A sword came into being, swinging in a wide, efficient arc that tore through the ribbons as if they were mere cloth. Ensis Exsequence wove in graceful arcs, negating the threat of the magical attack cold. Berserker made a complicated flick of his wrist, wrapping several ribbons around the blade and rendering them inert and harmless. He drew back, pulling Shamal to him even as he spun and kicked, the ribbons tearing on his sword's edge as he sent her flying back. Ribbons tugged briefly on his foot before they too were cut by the magic-canceling blade, and there was nothing to stop Shamal from flying several hundred feet into the top of a building.

The light from the transformation faded, and Berserker floated in the sky, armor changed once more. His cape was split in two, and crimson accents covered his arms and legs. The helm was slightly open now, the bottom half bare, revealing the shape of his jaw and mouth, which was set in a grim, satisfied line.

The Magia Erebea collapsed as Shamal got back to her feet, breathing hard, the crimson lines on her armor pulsing urgently in time with the stream of dark fluid connecting her to the Book of Darkness.

For a moment, they both stared at each other across the distance, eyes seeming to meet.

Then they both acted.

Through the night, twin voices rose in incantation.

_"I AM THE BONE OF MY SWORD!"_

The cry rang through the city, strong and echoing with power.

"_STEEL IS MY BODY, __AND FIRE IS MY BLOOD!" _

...

Illya looked up, face paling– paling more than usual, that is– as she heard the words echoing through the sky. "Oh…" she said, voice very small. "That's never a good sign…"

"_I HAVE CREATED OVER A THOUSAND BLADES!_"

"Illya-chan?" Nanoha said.

Illya swallowed. "We might be in trouble."

"_UNAWARE OF LOSS, NOT AWARE OF GAIN!_"

...

"That can't be good," Alisa commented as the voices rang through the city.

"_WITHSTOOD PAIN TO CREATE MANY WEAPONS!_"

"I believe it is coming from that direction," Suzuka said, turning and pointing.

Alisa frowned. "Why is that important?"

"Because I intend to run that way as fast as my feet can take me," Suzuka said, pointing behind her.

The two exchanged glances. Then they turned and ran…

"_I HAVE NO REGRETS, THIS IS THE ONLY PATH OF A HERO!_"

...

In her hospital bed, Hayate curled up in her blankets and tried not to pass out from the agony…

...

Fire began to build around their feet as they finished the last line of the aria.

"_My whole life was… __**UNLIMITED BLADE WORKS!**_"

The world began to change in a wave of fire as the Reality Marble began to take hold, overwriting this portion of realities with its own rules, the copy of a soul of a true Hero of the Throne made manifest. The two opposing Reality Marbles clashed as their wave fronts met, the space in between writhing as two wills fought for control.

There was a crack of thunder as Shamal lost the battle, falling before a superior will. Fire washed over her as the world changed around her.

"_Trace, ON! Rulebreaker!"_

Her kankaho-boosted reflexes barely got her out of the way of the strange dagger, her feet kicking off, only to find her way blocked as swords exploded out of the ground. She stumbled, back slamming into the flats of the blades.

A moment later, the dagger plunged into her arms, and she cried out in pain. Within her, her soul turned to fire and she felt like she was being hollowed out, emptied. The blackness on her armor seemed to quiver, shaking and trembling, the crimson lines flickering. With a final burst of agony, her armor seemed to explode, reweaving over her body in its usual minty green tones as the Book of Darkness, no longer connected to her by a dark sludgy stream, was suddenly thrown away from her, its crimson lines pulsing.

Shamal's eyes snapped open, her mind now finally blessedly clear. Her eyes were no longer gold. Something in her was screaming, screaming… "Hayate-chan!" she cried. "Hayate-chan! She needs me!"

Berserker growled, the swords dissolving as he turned to face the Book of Darkness, Rulebreaker in hand. Shamal scrambled back, clutching the wound in her arm.

The Book of Darkness… was floating. It was open, its pages pointed at them. Shamal stared at it, wide-eyed. "It… it shouldn't be able to do that. Not enough of its pages have been filled…"

"_**The Grail Corruption is giving it power…**_" Berserker said, letting Rulebreaker dissolve. "_**Stay behind–**_"

Shamal screamed again.

Berserker whirled, only to be slammed by a dark mass as shadows ripped themselves out of the ground, wrapping around Shamal holding her in place. He growled, the talons on the tips of his gauntlets ripping through the shadows that tried to wrap themselves around him. "_Trace, on!_" he cried, and Ensis Exsequence came into his hands, sweeping and tearing through the shadows. They came at him regardless, massing into huge blobs, foregoing any sort of structure in favor of pure mass to try to hold him back. He cut through them flawlessly, relentless, each sweep making an opening, yet the shadows surged on, blocking the openings, even as the Book of Darkness swooped towards a trapped Shamal…

A glowing star of green light rose from her chest as her scream echoed through the night…

Berserker let out a howl, prana burning through his body as he tore through the shadows. Swords fell from the air, Black Keys striking the shadows into immobility. A final slash, and the way between him and the Book of Darkness was clear just as Shamal's clothes fell away from the confines of her bonds, empty. Anger surged through him, threatening to break his will, to let thought the waves of madness held at bay. The sword in his hand quivered, and he longed to let it plunged, let it destroy, to break this machine that had taken a child's family away from her, leaving her alone…

Berseker grew still. Then, with a deep, shuddering breath, he straightened. The Reality Marble around him began to burn away as he released his hold on Ruby, on Raging Heart, on Bardiche, Ensis Exsequence disappearing from his hands. He faced the Book of Darkness, which hovered in the air before him.

"_**Do it quickly…**_" he growled as he found himself standing on the edge of the building's roof.

The Book of Darkness paused a moment, as if unsure…

Then it struck.

He hated time travel.

...

Illya stumbled as her Command Seal began to burn. The length of pipe she'd been holding clattered to the ground as she fell to her knees, waves of agony coursing through her. Inside, something she hadn't really been aware had been there shriveled and died.

Nanoha was by her side a few moments later. "Illya-chan?" she said, concerned.

"I think…" Illya said, eyes staring, "something happened to Berserker…"

"Watch out!" Fate cried from above.

There was a thump as a dark-armored form fell on the ground behind them.

...

On the plane back to Gotham, Bruce Wayne shuddered…

...

"NO!" Illya cried as she ran to her fallen Servant's side. "Berserker! Berserker, don't die! You can't die! You're a hero! HEROES DON'T DIE!"

"Of… c-course we d-do," a quiet voice said from beneath Berserker's helmet. "How else do we become h-heroes?"

"Berserker!" Illya exclaimed. "You're… how… no, don't talk! Stay still! We'll get you help! Nanoha-chan. Fate-chan, help him!"

"N-no," Berserker said, weakly. His voice was soft now, not gravel incarnate. "I remember this. Death is coming for me again, Illya. She is coming…"

"Berserker…" Illya sobbed, trying to support the enormous Servant's head on her lap, trying to do what she could to make him comfortable. "Wh-what happened?-!"

"Linker Core… The Book has it now…"

Fate and Nanoha exchanged looks over Illya's head. The blonde took to the air again, while Nanoha moved closer to Illya, kneeling down to offer what comfort she could.

"I'll take it down…" Illya swore, eyes clenched tight, voice cracking. "I swear, Berserker, I'll take it down. I'll get vengeance for you!"

"No…" Berserker hissed. "Not vengeance… never vengeance. Justice. Master…"

Illya smiled wanly. "I think that's the first time you've called me that…"

Berserker's head shifted slightly, and the shadows changed shape enough that one could almost say they'd seen a smile on his blank helmet. "Yes… it feels so strange… to be on this end of that word. Master… Illya…" the name was spoken like a familiar, delicate antique, cared for but long-unused. "Promise me… not vengeance. Justice. They did what they did with the best of intentions… to save a child like you…I give them my core freely… please, see that they get what they deserve. Not what will make you feel better… it was all… according to… _plan_…"

Fumbling, Illya reached for his massive hand, and squeezed. He squeezed back gently, yet with quiet strength "Yes… I promise. Justice, Berserker." She shook her head. "I… I don't even know your name… just your Class…"

Berserker's head shifted slightly, and the shadows changed shape enough that one could almost say they'd seen a smile on his blank helmet. "Does it matter now?"

"Please…" Illya said softly, dashing at her eyes with her arm. "Please, tell me your name. Tell me so I can remember you… tell me what you were called in life…"

"I…" Berserker said hesitantly, voice weak. "I'm not sure it was ever my name to begin with."

"Please, a name, anything!" Illya cried. "Someone needs to remember… you're owned that much. Who are you, my Berserker? What were you in life?"

"I… I…"

"Yes?" Illya breathed.

"I was the terror that flew through the darkened skies…"

"Berserker…" Illya said, touching his helm, feeling the horns digging into her legs.

"I was justice from the shadows…"

She could feel him growing weaker, his grip slackening in her grasp.

"I was darkness. I was vengeance," Berserker said quietly, some of his old strength and gravel returning even as his Grail-given life flowed away. "I was the Knight. I… was… w-was… B-b–…" A shudder went through him and he lay still.

Illya's tears fell like rain as she cradled his face, shaking her head in denial. "No…" she muttered. "No… no… no…! _BERSERKER_!"

Nanoha watched, still as death, silent witness to a young girl's pain and the end of a hero as Berserker's body faded away. There were quiet rings as Bardiche, Ruby and Raging Heart fell from his belt.

From where his hand had been, there was a brilliant flash of green, and a stream of light rose into the air, circling. "_Takamachi Nanoha of Earth… You have the ability to overcome great fear…_"

Nanoha felt Ring-chan slipping into her finger, the familiar tingle in her mind as she became one with her ring again.

"_Welcome to the Green Lantern Corp._"

...

_Download, complete._

_666 pages, loaded._

_Energy-siphon form host, aborted. _

_Initiating full Unison…_

_Commencing_

...

Hayate opened her eyes, tired and panting. She felt… strange.

The pain was gone. After so long, it seemed bizarre.

Beneath her bed, light began to glow.

She had only a moment to cry out in surprise before the pain began anew…

...

In the distance, a hollow boom echoed. Nanoha looked up. _Where did that come from?_ She sent to Fate.

Fate pointed. _There_, she sent.

Nanoha pushed her will into the ring, reveling in the familiar sensation. The past few minutes had been… nerve-wracking. Her visor fell over her eyes, the HUD editing out the buildings in front of her as she turned to look where Fate had pointed, images appearing as interpreted by her ring's scans.

"No…" Nanoha breathed. "No, no, no…"

On her knees, Illya glanced up. "What is it?" she asked dully.

"Explosion. At the hospital," Nanoha said. "And the barrier is still up. Something is maintaining it. Something's still in here with us."

For a moment, Illya just looked at her blankly. Then the pale-haired girl's eyes fell on Ruby.

Her eyes hardened, and she picked up the wand and the cards fallen next to it. "Compact full open," she said grimly. "Expand connection to alternate realities."

There was a rainbow colored burst of light.

"_Kaleido Ruby!_" Illya shouted to the heavens. "_Mahou Shoujo Prisma Illya!_"

Picking up Ragingh Heart and Bardiche, she tossed them both to a startled Nanoha, who caught them reflexively, fumbled, and had to catch them with her ring. "Come on," she snapped. "Let's see if it's the Book. I want to _shoot_ something…"

Fate's cry tore through the night.

They both snapped their gazes upward, to kind Fate dodging a woman wielding an enormous sword. Clad in black, her silver hair trailing like a comet's tail, her arms and face were traced with glowing crimson lines, and eight black wings burst from her back. Merciless golden eyes watched as Fate darted back.

"FATE!" Nanoha cried, kicking off and taking to the air, Raging Heart changing from orb to staff in her hands as Illya kicked off after her.

The woman turned to look at them, face hard. She extended her hand, and a magic circle appeared beneath her, its deep black lines glowing a deep, unearhly purple.

"_Diabolic Emission…_"

The world was reduced to a black storm of howling death…

...

_24/12- Earlier_

"Everyone…" Chibi-Usa– or should that be just plain Usagi now? She was no longer quite so chibi– said solemnly after the initial excitement had passed. The sudden seriousness was shocking, considering how lighthearted they knew her to be. "We need to talk. The future depends on it." She paused to consider her words. "Again. And this time it's not my fault!" She gave them all a slightly pouty, defensive look.

"No one said anything, Small Lady," Setsuna said, keeping her face smooth. The corners of her mouth twitching gave her away. Everyone else, except Gilgamesh, was also doing their best to look innocent, with varying degrees of success. Usagi was failing utterly.

Chibi-Usa huffed, then straightened, adopting a serious expression again. "I don't have much time, so I'll get to the point. In a few hours, Green Lantern-oba-chan is going to fight the completed Book of Darkness. If she fails, the Earth is doomed." She paused a beat. "Again. She'll need your help."

They all stared at her.

"That's… strangely more specific than usual…" Ami said. "Usually it's some vague threat, or that we have to find someone or something with absolutely no hint as to what or where, and we just bungle along until the bad guys find it for us… still pretty vague, though."

Chibi-Usa smiled wanly. "I… can't give more specific details than that. Not and avoid predestination, and this is getting dangerously close to it already. But… she'll need your help. Yours most of all." She pointed.

Everyone turned to stare at Gilgamesh, who only raised an eyebrow. He'd taken Mamoru's explanation that this was his daughter from the future with a blank face, and kept quiet as to his thoughts to it. "Me?" he said.

Chibi-Usa nodded, then turned to Mamoru. "Father, permission to order your attendant?"

Mamoru raised an eyebrow at the sudden formality, but nodded.

Chibi-Usa turned an intent stare at the Servant. "Gilgamesh, Archer Class Servant of the 4th Holy Grail War, this I charge to you…"

...

**- To be continued...**

...

A/N: Archer could have used Rulebreaker as well, but given where he was, it wasn't feasible. Also, Rulebreaker's description says it also undoes curses on top of contracts. I'm interpreting it as being able to be selective. The Wolkenritter aren't contracted to Hayate, per se: they're bound to the Book, and by extension to whoever the book is bonded to.

Yes, the crossover with **Shaun Garin's **_**It Could Always Be Worse**_is still canon. Should make for an interesting StrikerS-era… if I ever get that far…

Kuro and Illya are in a Chained Heat situation. Anything that happens to Illya, Kuro feels as if it's happening to her. If Illya dies, Kuro's system will probably go into shock emulating the symptoms and follow. It's a forgettable, but quite vital facet of their relationship. Consider _**WHY**_ Kuro likes molesting Illya…

Speaking of whom…

...

**OMAKE! **_**From the files of Chao Lingshen, Temporal Renegade**_

...

**Full Name:** Kuro von Einbern-Emiya

**Known Aliases**: Kuro, Kuro Illya, The Kissing Demon, Oh-Crap-It's-That-Crazy-Loli!

**Alignment:** Chaotic Perverted, Incestous Good

**ECL: **9000+

**Religion: **The Mysteries of Aphrodite and Eros

**Sexuality: **Incestous, Depraved (but loyal) Bisexual

**Family:** Irisviel Von Einzbern-Emiya (Mother), Emiya Kiritsugu (Father), Illyasviel von Einzbern-Emiya (Sister), Emiya Shiro (Adopted Brother)

**Affiliations: **is a founding member of the Fuyuki City Fate Knights, and the United Magical Girl Association.

**Background:** originally an internalized split personality caused by sealing the memories and supernaturally-accelerated development of the homunculus Illyasviel von Einzbern-Emiya several months after her birth, Kuro was temporarily unleashed when Illya, at ten years of age and wielding the Kaleidoscope-powered Mystic Code Kaleido Ruby as Magical Girl Prisma Illya Kaleido Ruby (yes, there is a lot of redundancy), combined it's power with the 'Archer' Class Card, imbuing herself with the powers of a still-unknown Heroic Spirit qualified to be of the Archer Class. This manifested as a trance-like, out of body experience for Illya as Kuro defeated the Class Card manifestation of a Saber-class Heroic Spirit.

She first materialized a full, independent corporeal body after Kaleido Ruby (Illyasviel von Einzbern-Emiya), Kaleido Sapphire (Edelfelt Miyu), Jewel Red (then just Tohsaka Rin), Blue Blaz (then just Luviagelita Edelfelt) conducted a ritual to stabilize the Earth-pulse in the vicinity of Fuyuki City and the after-effects caused a cave-in. Illya internalized the powers of the Archer Class Card, and a random interaction of disparate forces allowed Kuro to manifest for the first time as a distinct entity. She immediately tried to kill Illya, but was repulsed, and later captured. A magic seal was placed on her, cursing her to be physically affected by everything Illya experienced to prevent her from trying to kill her originator.

Thus sealed, she proceeded on her secondary, and possibly _**TRUE**_ objective: resolving all Illya's underlying sexual tension with her brother, Miyu, her classmates, and anyone else Illya may have had the hots for with a full textual upgrade. Her first action was an attempted seduction of Tracer (then only Emiya Shiro), that was interrupted when Illya self-administered pain to disrupt Kuro's actions. She later somehow enrolled in Illya's school where she proceeded to seduce and steal the first kisses of Illya's immediate circle of friends, as well as seduce her homeroom teacher, Fujimura Taiga. When the deception was uncovered by the appearance of the _real_ Illya, Kuro passed herself off as Illya's cousin.

After a violent episode triggered by Illya's momentary angst-ridden statement that she just wanted to be normal, Kuro challenged Miyu to a duel over their personal philosophies regarding Illya. This battle was interrupted by Illya, and, surprisingly, Illya's mother, Irisviel. The truth of Kuro's nature as Illyas suppressed memories that developed into their own personality is revealed, and Illya was able to use her nature as a conduit for the power of the Holy Grail to wish Kuro her own permanent independent existence.

She, along with several Magical Girls who would later become founding members of the Fuyuki Fate Knights, responded to Green Lantern (2814.1)'s plea for aid when she was attacked by the group calling themselves the Wolkenritter, and was actually the one approached by Green Lantern (2814.1) about officially organizing the group that would later become the United Magical Girls (and Boys) Association.

Kuro participated in the defense of Uminari City during the so-called Power Ranger Incident, when the appearance of the dimensionally displaced Power Rangers Vivio Hart Testarossa Oliver, Chrono Harlaown, Yuuno Scrya and Carter Grayson– or more specifically, when the interaction of the so-called 'Morphing Grid' energy they carried and the local universe– caused the manifestation of monsters and the re-emergence of an entity they called 'Lord Zedd' to manifest on the moon. Kuro was part of a strike team beamed to the moon to deal with the entity, and was ultimately responsible for his defeat and capture.

Negotiating with her to let him go and not use him as her own personal font of energy was significantly more difficult.

She participated in 5th and Last Holy Grail War of Fuyuki City, Heaven's Feel, and was instrumental in the defeat of the Invader-converted Kotomine Kirei and the foiling of his plans to use the power of the Holy Grail to manifest ultimate evil upon the world. During this time, she developed an affinity with the Archer of the 5th Holy Grail War (who to this day has remained unidentified), _after_ his apparent death when his Linker Core was removed, despite initial hostilities.

She seems to have a mysterious connection to the Temporal Renegade Chao Lingshen, the nature and extent of which is not yet fully known.

**Powers and Abilities: **Kuro possesses the abilities of a Heroic Spirit qualified for manifesting as an Archer-class Servant. The identity of this Heroic Spirit is unknown, as its powers do not correspond to any known legend, and seems to possess no identifiable Noble Phantasm, although it appears to be the same Heroic Spirit who appeared in the capacity of the Servant Archer during the 5th Holy Grail War. This Servant was never identified, however, due to his being summoned incorrectly, leading him to develop partial amnesia with regards to his existence as a mortal, most especially in the areas concerning anything that might be able to pinpoint his identity. His most identifying ability, a Reality Marble called Unlimited Blade Works, has spawned several imitators, and is of no use in any attempt at identification.

Kuro possesses a form of Gradation Air dubbed 'Tracing' that allows her to perfectly replicate any sword, mundane or Noble Phantasm, she encounters and has at least seen and observed, touched, or whose internal structure and composition she is familiar with. She can also use it replicate spears to a limited degree, and even a few shield Noble Phantasms. She uses these swords as arrows, essentially allowing her an unlimited supply of High-Energy Noble Phantasm explosive projectiles, often with unique abilities. Kuro is capable of using each weapon as skillfully as any who have possessed and mastered it, including utilizing any special techniques they knew or have used with the weapon she has Traced.

She is also able to generate the Reality Marble "Unlimited Blade Works" despite it not being the manifestation of her soul, as an extension of her possession of the unknown Heroic Spirit's abilities, though this has been hotly debated– though interestingly, never by her.

Kuro is also able to drain energy from anyone she kisses and convert it into prana to maintain her existence or supplement her magical energy. As a Nasurian magecraft-user, she is above average when it comes to physical abilities, when compared to normal non-superpowered people. She can jump off a house and land without injury and fight against foes many times her size or strength, using Reinforcement Magecraft on herself. For a short period of time, she was in posession of a White Power Ring and made good use of it. In addition, the ring also provided a fragmented but detailed accounts of future events, some of which she still remembers after the ring left her posession, though the extent and continued validity of which is unknown.

...

**OMAKE 2: Yuuno Scrya's Guide To The Religions Of Unadministered World 97, Earth (Space Sector 2814)**

...

**The First Church of Sakura**

The First Church of Sakura was founded by the eccentric philanthropist Daidouji Tomoyo, who claims she was divinely inspired to establish the church when she was six years old. An eraser is supposedly involved somehow, but the exact circumstances are shrouded in religious dogma, and are difficult to ascertain.

The Church of Sakuraism is based around the worship of the incarnated goddess of all truth and beauty, Kinomoto Sakura. The church's objective is to spread peace, love, tolerance and understanding across the universe, using the life of the supposedly mortal goddess after which it is named as an example. Religious dogma maintains that this goddess has power over the elements of the world, and her very presence can end wars and prevents the end of the world through the end of all love.

While considered at best to be a rather harmless cult, it is gaining popularity, especially among the homosexual and transgendered groups, due to its non-violent tenets, equal treatment of all members with no sexual segregation or proscribed gender roles, emphasis on acceptance and understanding as the eventual basis for peace and love, the option of having the teachings of the church as a personal philosophy of life and therefore not need the convert to switch from his current religion, and the lolicon imagery the church uses as sacred icons. Such icons include the Loli Maid of Service, which teaches that food must be shared to be enjoyed; the Loli Catgirl of Stewardship, which teaches that animals are as important as humans in the overall scheme and must be respected; and the Loli Crossdressing Prince of the Sword, one of the faith's few aggressive images, which teaches that belief must be fought for and defended, but that violence is never truly an option, because the battle for belief happens in the hearts of people.

The rumors that the church is in some way connected to the Church of Blood and the Followers of Scath is completely unfounded.

...

**END!**

...

Not my best. But hey, next chap has the Nanoha/Fate/Pissed-Off-Illya versus Hayate/Reinforce/Corruption Fight! Can't go wrong there!

Please review, C&C welcome.

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	25. Kosmo Entelekhia

A/N: Yes, I know it's been a LONG time. I've been writing here for 6 years! You all know me by now!

...

Takamachi Nanoha of 2814

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 25: Kosmo Entelekhia

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story. If I did… well, this would all be canon. WARNING: MAY CAUSE HEAD EXPLOSION!

...

_24/12- Earlier_

"It's probably some kind of sign that all the people who can kick your ass nowadays are women," Asuna said as they headed back to the dorms by back ways and byways and many times just over rooftops like some character from a Takahashi manga that for some reason is still generating fanfic decades after cancellation. "Me, Eva-chan, Cassandra-san, that red knight who kicked your ass a few weeks back…"

She was feeling pretty cheerful, all things considered, despite the rising insanity. They'd had to stop sparring with Cassandra after they'd been tracked down by Mana, who Ayaka had apparently hired. The mercenary seemed amused by the situation, and had been playing with them, in her own way, until Negi had summoned Kaede as a distraction. The two had immediately gotten locked in yet another duel, even as Mana made a token attempt to continue with her contract.

Some things, like ignoring ongoing ninja-sniper rivalry, can't be bought. For everything else, like Mana's non-ideological loyalty, there's YukihiroCard.

Negi sighed resignedly at the good-natured ribbing, but he couldn't help but smile anyway. "So, are you planning anything for tomorrow, Asuna-san?" he asked, curiously.

Asuna looked at him sideways. "Huh? Eh, nothing much. Eat Konoka's good food, watch some Christmas specials, loaf around… you?"

"Well, I'm sort of chaperoning the dance the school is holding," Negi said.

Asuna slapped a hand into her palm. "Oh,_ right! _That thing. I completely forgot about it. Huh. Must be why so many people are looking for you…" she muttered darkly, thinking of half of the class.

They entered their dorm via the window, to find Konoka merrily whistling to herself as she cooked, and a chastened-looking Setsuna.

"Tried to steal a cookie?" Asuna asked as Negi closed the window behind them.

"Marshmallow," the hanyou said meekly.

"Heh, sorry Setsuna-chan," Asuna said. "I should have warned you, Konoka can be pretty particular with her Christmas cooking. Too much American TV, if you ask me."

As Negi got changed and put away his training things, the door slammed open, and an annoyed Chisame strode in, one of her new robot maids trailing her. Those things still gave Asuna the willies, even if Hakase and Chisame BOTH guaranteed they'd been reprogrammed. "_**There**_ you are!" she cried. "Can't you stay on the ground like normal people? I've been running over half the campus to find you!"

"Come on in Chisame-chan, make yourself at home," Asuna said dryly.

"Look, I am _**NOT**_ in the mood for this!" Chisame snapped, plopping down in front of the table and pulling out her laptop. She typed quickly, then placed it on the surface and turned the screen towards them as Konoka left the kitchen, wondering what all the fuss was about. "_This_ just came in. Green Lantern just found the Wolkenritter AND their Master and is asking for backup. I've talked to Amy. Apparently their top mage guy is in HQ busting someone who apparently had this info and was holding back, and Ferret Lantern went with him."

Negi, Asuna, Setsuna and Konoka stared in stunned silence.

"Well?" Chisame demanded.

"Not one sarcastic comment about all this being a fantasy world she's not a part of," Asuna said. "Chisame… _you're finally one of us!_"

Chisame's whole face twitched. She drooped. "I hate you people…"

Asuna turned to Setsuna. "Setsuna, get everyone, but make sure not to let anyone else know. We can't meet here, too much chance of getting caught by Iincho and co… The stage near the World Tree! Let's all meet there in half an hour!"

Setsuna nodded, getting to her feet. Konoka sighed. "There's goes dinner…"

Setsuna looked guilty. "You don't have to come along, Ojou-sama…" she said.

Konoka whacked her with the chef's hat she was worrying. "Don't be silly, Set-chan! Who'd do the healing?"

"I hate you all…" Chisame said, still stuck at her final revelation…

...

_24/12- Tomoeda_

"Ground control, this is Ravager one, requesting clearance to take off," Tomoyo said into her helmet mic.

"Daidouji, your complete and wanton abuse of power fills me with new heights of terror, you _crazy, addle-brained lunatic!_" Syaoran said levelly, finishing the last four words in Mandarin to spare Sakura's delicate ears.

"Eh?" Sakura said, blinking innocently. "What did you say, Syaoran-kun?"

"Syaoran! Be nice!" Meilin said, grinning through her flight helmet. "Otherwise she might not let me fly this on the weekend!"

"No worries, Meilin-chan," Tomoyo said brightly. She looked over her shoulder at them, quite a feat considering the confines of the helicopter, modified as it was. "Consider it a New Years gift. When we return from this little trip of Sakura-chan's, I'll get you started logging hours on my flight simulator."

"'When', she says," Syaoran muttered. "Am I the only one vaguely concerned by this? The last time Sakura had apocalyptic dreams that nearly came true, Yue beat the stuffing out of us. I don't think it'll as nice this time."

"_Well, there'll certainly likely be less Ho-yay-type sexual tension_," Meilin muttered in Mandarin.

Syaoran glared at her, ignoring Sakura's confused look at the language shift. "_Must you mock my magically induced sexual confusion?_"

"_Yes,_" Tomoyo replied from up front as she adjusted some controls, many of which read things like 'Armed'. "_Yes, we must._"

"Ravager one, you are cleared for take off," the radio crackled. "Your mother sends her regards and reminds you not to cause an incident that can't be covered up. Enjoy your flight. We'll have the lawyers waiting when you get home."

"Oh, Tsunade-san you kidder you," Tomoyo laughed as the helicopter's blades suddenly got into gear, the loud roar necessitating the helmets and accompanying earphones to dampen. Holographic display that certainly hadn't been part of the helicopter's package when it was first made came alive, Tomoyo touching displays in air, setting and adjusting their course. Sakura cried out cutely, clutching at Syaoran for comfort. Due to the fact she and Meilin for both sitting with Syaoran in the rear cockpit of the helicopter– Tomoyo apparently needed to be free of distractions– this resulted in rather bright blushing on his part and smug but slightly wistful looks from Meilin.

The last thing Syaoran heard over the radio was, "Who says we're kidd–" before it cut off, and they were rising into the evening air. Sakura clung tighter, hiding her face in his shoulder at the rather stomach-wrenching lurch as the helicopter rose with speed. The improvised safety webbing was making him very uncomfortable, but it was the best compromise they could come up with, since Tomoyo would very well not countenance _Sakura_ sitting in the seat proper and someone sitting on her lap. Still, the positioning was making Syaoran even more conscious of proximity. Thank goodness the seat was barely wide enough for Sakura to sit _next_ to him, rather than on him…

He saw Meilin's eyebrows rise just as he became uncomfortably aware a portion of his anatomy had just done the same. She fixed him with a teasing smile. "_Why, Syaoran…_" she purred. "_Are you thinking of doing naughty, decadent things to your little ole cousin and Sakura-cha–_"

The specially attached jet engines Tomoyo had modified the helicopter with roared to life, drowning out even the headphones and thankfully sparing Syaoran and the author from the completed suggestion of a threesome as the highly illegal, heavily altered, heavily armed helicopter screamed into the night, heading for Uminari city…

...

_24/12– Now_

"_Diabolic Emission…_"

The ball of dark energy contracted.

"_Merge with the night…_"

Energy exploded.

"I…" Illya said, staring at the death before her, "am going to die a virgin."

_Somewhere, Kuro felt a sudden surge of desperate urgency and libido and didn't know why. _

The wave of dark energy spread, reaching to engulf them, Nanoha's hand snapped up, her ring flaring as a multi-layered sphere of green energy surrounded them, while at the same time a disk of pink light snapped between them and the pulse of energy. Nanoha let out a cry as her construct buckled, bent and finally shattered under the magical onslaught. Her magical shield held, however, and Illya hastily directed Ruby to do the same, forming her star-shaped barriers around Nanoha's widening their shield. Her stars started to crack.

"Ruby! More power!" she cried.

"Fate-chan!" Nanoha called.

Fate wrapped her arms around their waists, her cape vanishing as the glowing golden wings of her Sonic Form flared into being. "_Blitz Rush!_" she intoned, and Illya's breath was squeezed out of her as Fate kicked in the speed. They blew past the leading edge of the sphere, but Fate didn't slow, getting as much distance as they could while their enemy's vision was obscured by her own spell.

Nanoha was apparently taking the sudden burst of speed better than Illya was, because she was still alert and tracking. "Fate-chan! Behind that building! We need cover!"

Fate made a very abrupt, sharp turn, making Illya's stomach roil violently in response. They flashed behind the shadow of a large building, where the blonde finally let them go.

Illya pushed back from them, turned and retched in midair, the former contents of her stomach plunging into the darkened earth beneath. When she finally stopped unloading, she directed a bleary gaze at Fate. "A little warning next time, please?" she said weakly.

Fate blushed. "Sorry."

Nanoha handed Illya a green tissue and she wiped her mouth with it. That helped, though the inside of her mouth still tasted–

Illya blinked as Nanoha handed her what appeared to be a green glass of green water. "You're kidding, right?"

Nanoha shrugged. "It works just like water, though I wouldn't advise swallowing."

Grimacing, Illya took the glass, gargled and, with nowhere to delicately get rid of it, spat out the green construct water into the dark below. "Thank you," she said, feeling cleaner. She paused. "Is it weird your cakes taste as good coming up as going down?"

"We're particularly proud of that trick," Nanoha chirped happily. "Takamachi Family Cooking Secret!"

"Fate-chan!" a voice cried.

Startled, they all turned, and Illya saw a tall red-haired woman flying towards them. Furry animal ears sprouted from the usual places, and her hot pants and _very _abbreviated top left little to the imagination. Illya was immediately struck by breast envy. The woman was almost as stacked as Rider!

_Somewhere in the midst of preparations to leave, Rider paused, wondering why her boobs felt warm..._

Fate apparently recognized her, breaking out in a smile. "Arf!" she called out, reminding the readers of the familiar's existence .

The familiar flew towards them, looking chagrined. "Sorry I took so long," Arf said. "I was napping, so I didn't hear the computer's alert, and I couldn't contact you, and then the barrier went up...!" She lapsed into gasps.

"Breathe Arf, breathe," Fate soothed.

Arf took deep, shuddering gasps, making Illya's breast envy go rampant all over again. "Back-up's on its way, I think," she said more calmly. "But it will be a while. Chrono and Yuuno were at the Main Office arresting a senior TSAB officer for hiding information about the Book of Darkness. Yuuno's on his way back now, but even at maximum speed, it'll be a while before he gets back. The other magical girl groups have gotten word and are on their way, but they weren't ready, so they'll be delayed. The Senshi say they'll be here first, and someone's been sent to pick up the others. "

Nanoha grimaced. "So we're on our own," she said, her visor hiding her expression. "We need to occupy the Book's attention, keep it from leaving this area. We need a plan."

Illya cautiously looked around the building, scanning the skies until she spotted their enemy. The unearthly, vaguely purple-ish glow streaked with red and black helped. "I guess the Book was completed when it took Berserker's core," she said bitterly, which wasn't very bitter, not having a lot of practice. "So this is it going out of control, huh? That means it's already possessed that Hayate girl and it's counting down to the end of the world, right?" A pause.

Nanoha Fate and Arf chimed in. "_Again_."

Something still nagged Illya about that girl. Her name and Caster's, the 4th Caster's, there was something... For that matter, something about the Book of Darkness's silver-haired form nagged at her too. She felt she'd seen it somewhere before...

"We should stay well back," Fate advised cautiously. "Given the power the Book has shown, we'll need distance to evade any more of such wide-area attacks. I'm probably the only one fast enough to dodge any other such attacks. I'll close in and occupy her, and you guys attack from a distance."

"Fate-chan!" Nanoha protested.

Fate shook her golden hair vehemently. "It's for the best, Nanoha-chan. Your shooting spells can be safely used at long range, and I've seen how you get affected when one of your constructs is broken by magic. I know you can safely deploy constructs from far away. This way, if they break, you're less vulnerable. You and Illya can shoot at her while I keep her busy."

"_We_ keep her busy," Arf interjected. "I'm almost as fast as you, and I have better defensive spells. I can soften any hits."

Fate hesitated, but finally nodded.

Nanoha frowned, obviously not liking the plan. Her sense of duty didn't like being placed in the position of less harm, but she had to admit, Fate was better at her at high-speed maneuvers– in-atmosphere, anyway. She was pretty sure she was better than Fate at faster-than-light maneuvers.

…

Reasonably sure.

…

Fairly sure

…

Well, it wasn't like she'd ever find out.

Nanoha sighed, giving Fate a concerned look. "Be careful, okay Fate-chan?"

Fate managed a smile. "Don't worry. I will..."

Arf rolled her eyes. "Oh, get a room, master..."

"ARF!" Fate cried, blushing, while Nanoha blinked in confusion.

"You should have seen them earlier," Illya told Arf.

"I think I can imagine what it was like," Arf said. Then she did a double take. "Hey, who are you?"

"Arf, Illya. Illya, Arf," Nanoha said, making introductions.

"Hi..." Illya said, waving hesitantly.

"Hey," Arf said. She looked at Nanoha sideways. "So, how'd you end up here? Nanoha blast you in the face with a deathray too?"

"Hey!" Nanoha pouted. "I never aimed for the face!"

...

Chrono sat listening to Admiral Graham outline his plan. How he'd been looking for the Book of Darkness since it last appeared eleven years ago. How he'd found it, already bonded to a girl named Yagami Hayate. The surveillance, contacting the girl under the guise as a friend of her father, paying for her living expenses. Project Durandal. How they had intended to eventually deal with the Book of Darkness… and with it, Hayate.

Behind the older man, the Lieze twins stood loyally, making faces of defiance. But that was all there was to it. Faces. Yuuno had found the information trail, and Chrono and he had followed it to these three. It was all over except for the lawyers, so to speak. Yuuno had already left, having received some kind of distress call from Nanoha.

Finally, Chrono stood, turning to leave. As he stepped to the door, he paused. "There are two other problems with your plan besides its legality, Admiral," he said. "First of all, releasing the Book of Darkness and its master from such a frozen existence wouldn't be all that difficult. No matter where you hid them, no matter how much you tried to protect the location, someone will find it, drawn to it by their desire for power. And when that day comes, the cycle will begin anew, and you will have achieved nothing but taking an innocent girl's life from her."

Graham bowed his head in sad acknowledgement.

"What's the second thing?" Aria demanded.

Chrono allowed himself a slight smile. "The second thing is that if you'd actually gone through with your plan, Earth's law enforcement would have been on you so hard you'd be on trial before you know what hit you. Be thankful that matters accelerated to the degree they did without your intervention."

"I doubt the police would have even noticed we were there," Graham said, frowning.

Chrono couldn't help it. He coughed out a laugh that had the Lieze twins blinking at him in confusion. "You haven't been keeping track of things on Earth as well as you should have been, Admiral. More than one person I've met has told me whoever made it official that Unadministered World 97 has few mages was a blind, deaf, stupid moron. I hold the same opinion."

The frown deepened. "I fail to see what that has to do with anything."

"Can you access Earth's internet here?" Chrono asked. "I suggest, before your access privileges are completely revoked, you look up 'Sailor Senshi', 'Superman' and 'Green Lantern' on Google. There was a _reason_ so many people were here when we brought our local contact to be treated when her Linker Core was taken." Chrono sighed. "Things have probably escalated to the 'Bombardment Spells to the face' stage on Earth, so if you will excuse me, I will take my leave. Pray we can contain this situation in time."

He continued moving towards the door.

"Chrono," Graham called.

Chrono paused. "Yes?"

"Aria, give him the Durandal," Graham said.

"Father!" the catgirl exclaimed.

"No way!" Lotte protested.

"We don't have a chance anymore…" he admitted. "And apparently never did. Even if we kept it with us, it would be useless."

The twins deflated. Aria reached into her… _somewhere_ (really, where did they have room to put anything on those uniforms?) and drew out a large card. She extended it to Chrono, eyes downcast.

"I'll let use decide how you want to use it," Graham said as Chrono looked down at it. "It is the Staff of Freezing we have developed… the Durandal…"

In the middle, the diamond-shaped blue gem sparkled.

...

"Green Lantern, in position," Nanoha announced, crouching down amongst the air vents and other assorted paraphernalia on the roof of the building she'd chosen as her firing position. A hologram rendered her invisible, masking her protective aura's glow. Raging Heart rested on a makeshift construct bipod, pointing where her visor had tagged the enemy.

Several city blocks away and a slight turn clockwise relative to the Book of Darkness, Illya winced, adjusting the green earpiece she wore. "Kaleido Ruby, in position. And not so loud please, I'm still not sure how to adjust the volume of this thing."

"Sorry. I think I forgot to add that. I'll just fix my transmission volume."

"Appreciated."

_Fate and Arf, in position,_ Fate sent, gripping Bardiche tightly as she stared up at the dark-clad form of the spirit of the Book of Darkness. Her fingers twitched spasmodically without her consent, and she concentrated on stilling them, lest they make her lose her grip in a _very_ unfortunate moment. Why, exactly, had she volunteered herself for this highly suicidal position? Oh, right, she'd been afraid for her friend's safety and the argument had seemed to make sense at the time. Right now, her fear was telling her– quite loudly, eloquently, repeatedly and with a very reasonable and well thought out argument– that this was an extremely stupid idea, that it was highly detrimental to her continued life-span, that she was likely in for a world of hurt, and that maybe this sort of thing was _exactly_ what Nanoha's constructs were for.

Fate took a deep breath, punched her fear in the gut before she lost her nerve, threw it into a canvas bag, jumped on the bag repeatedly with spiked shoes, threw it into the bay, then turned around and whistled innocently as she pretended she hadn't seen it.

Someone squeezed her shoulder and she nearly jumped out of her barrier jacket. She let out a sigh of relief she hadn't known she'd been holding in as she realized it was just Arf.

"Calm down master," Arf said softly, her tone mildly teasing, mostly reassuring. "This can't be any worse than the time Nanoha-chan shot you in the face with her first Starlight Breaker."

Neither mentioned how Nanoha hadn't been shooting to kill.

"Preparing attack," Nanoha reported, startling them out of their moment. Fate checked her hand, and was relieved to see the shaking had stopped. "Raging Heart establishing targeting lock. Preparing constructs."

"Um, give me a sec," Illya waffled, still setting up. "Ruby, I need you to make some kind of Bounded Field around me to keep me from being noticed, like what Luvia has around her house. Something I can shoot out from without disrupting it."

"Hmm…" Ruby mused. "Tough order. That's extremely complicated magecraft, Illya-chan! What do you think I am, some kind of magic wand you can just wave to make anything you can imagine happen without bothering to know how it gets done?"

Illya gave it a blank look. "Well, yes."

"That's right, I am!" Ruby crowed. "Aren't I awesome or what? I pity the phools who don't have me, I do, I do!"

Illya's eyebrow twitched. "Have you been watching American sitcoms again or something, Ruby?"

There was a derisive sound over the open line that sounded like someone was trying to snort but didn't have the anatomy for it. "Oh, please. Your abilities are nothing, Kaleidostick. I possess infinitely more creative potential than you do, and have been perfected over the course of eons. I be bringin' the phunk down on you, biyatch."

"Creative potential is meaningless," Bardiche argued. "I am optimized for maximum synchronization with my master. There are no points of unnecessary capability. My master and I form a perfect team."

"Heh, really? Then why did I hear that TSAB technician lady say the pink ejaculation stick and my Green Lantern had a higher synchronization rating?" Ring-chan said.

Silence.

"Hey, shooting thingy, say something."

"Please leave me out of this," Raging Heart said demurely.

Nanoha blinked. "Ring-chan? Is there something wrong with your speech capabilities? Why are you talking like that?"

"I was attempting to communicate with the Kaleidostick in an Earth vernacular it seemed familiar with, ma'm," Ring-chan said in something closer to its usual Tara Strong-esque voice.

"Ah," Nanoha said, not really understanding.

Fate sighed. "Bardiche, now's not the time to be picking up bad habits."

"Sorry sir."

Illya gave Ruby a look. "Bounded Field, please?" she said, waving the wand. The air momentarily shimmered, then settled.

In the air, the Book of Darkness paused

Illya froze. "Crap! Did it pick us up?"

It turned, scanning the ground beneath it.

Illya wilted. "Why can't I catch a break?" she moaned as the Book began to descend.

In the horizon, green light flared.

"_RING CONSTRUCT! STARLIGHT BREAKER!_"

The city was bathed in emerald light as the enormous, building-sized sphere of energy instantly formed and burst into a deadly, implacable beam. It slammed into the Book of Darkness, completely encompassing it with its width. Then the beam detonated, exploding into an annihilating sphere of green light so bright it seemed almost white. The sphere seemed about to surge outward, as such explosions are wont to, before it suddenly shuddered and began to contract. Its light became brighter.

Illya starred in confusion, wondering what was stopping the obviously intense blast from growing and turning her into crispy-fried-Illya-chunks when she realized Nanoha was still controlling the blast, keeping it contained and concentrating its full destructive power on the Book.

_Nanoha!_ She heard fate's panicked cry in her mind.

"Don't worry!" Nanoha responded, though there was strain in the girl's voice. Apparently, this wasn't as easy as it seemed. "Power Rings are always at non-lethal force when used against sentient beings. Hayate-chan will be fine!"

Illya blinked. "_**THAT'S YOUR IDEA OF NON-LETHAL?-!-?-!-?-!**_"

"Well, it'll hurt a lot, but it won't kill her," Nanoha said, sounding like this was a self-evident fact.

"Having… flashbacks…" Fate murmured, staring. "Not the face… not the face…"

"Look, I never aimed for the face!"

Illya stared long and hard at the vivid green light above her. "No way is it that easy," she said philosophically, one finger idly tapping the pouch she carried her Class Cards in. "Just no way. It's too early for a hope spot, so this must be–"

The sphere of the concentrated construct exploded, the emerald energies warping and contorting dangerously, turning from a sphere into an interrupted stream. Stray streams of power slammed into the city, tearing, crushing and outright vaporizing buildings. Other parts of the attack beam sheered off and shattered like sugar glass.

Illya nodded in resigned satisfaction. "Ah. _There_ it is. I knew it couldn't be so simple."

_Illya, please stop being so cheerful and help,_ Fate said, sounding slightly peeved.

"Sarcasm doesn't become you, Testarossa-san," Illya said. "Ruby! Maintain bounded field and prepare the highest-yield shot we can that won't betray our position! Ready high-penetration explosive shot!"

"Attack readied," Ruby said. "Hit it with a Lyrical Grade Genocide blast!"

"Hey!" Nanoha called out, though her voice sounded slightly shaky. Her beam was attenuating at the point of impact, and Illya could vaguely make out some kind of spherical area there. "Are you making fun of me?"

_Of course not__, Nanoha-chan, _Fate said. _If we were, it would be called a __**Nanoha**__ Grade Genocide blast._

"Oh. Well, that's okay th– HEY!"

Illya stifled a giggle and stood, grasping Ruby in both hands, trying to assess where their enemy was. "Nanoha-san! Be ready to cut off the beam at my signal! It's not doing much good any more! We need to switch to real magic attacks!"

"Understood!" Nanoha confirmed.

Illya set herself, drawing back Ruby. Two points of light in the air, gold and orange, circled some distance form the emerald blast, not close enough to be hurt by any throw-offs. "_Maximal…" _Illya intoned, trying to pour her power into the strike. "_**DURCHSTECHEN!**_"

The blast of pure prana streaked from the end of the Kaleidostick, leaving slightly iridescent curling contrails in its wake, the air warping at its end.

"Now, Nanoha-san!" Illya cried.

The emerald blast suddenly cut off, and the night seemed darker as the glow disappeared. The after-image of it was burned into Illya's vision, even as her own attacked burned another trail in her retinas. It struck the figure she'd aimed at just as Nanoha's beam disappeared, and the attack burst into its own spherical explosion.

Illya waited with baited breath, and when she saw her suspicions confirmed, her heart sank.

Of course the blast hadn't done any good…

"Why do I get the feeling this is going to drag on a while," she murmured to herself as she instinctively knelt to try and hide…

...

_I am going to die a virgin…_ Fate thought, then paused.

"I didn't send that telepathically, did I?" she asked Arf.

"Send what?" Arf asked her, not turning away from their enemy.

"The thought about dying…"

"No, you didn't."

"Ah. Good."

"I wouldn't have been able to help you with it anyway. It'd be weird, and Nanoha's… probably kinda useless at it. And I don't think Illya-san knows you well enough to be comfortable with it…"

Fate gave her a sideways glare. "You said I hadn't sent anything!"

"Master, I don't need to hear your thoughts to know what you're thinking, especially when it's _that_. It's one of a familiar's 108 innate secret skills. Linith taught me so."

They listened to Illya's cry of "_Maximal Durchstechen_" in relative silence.

"That brings up very disturbing thoughts about how Linith would have taught you to recognize _that_…"

"Yeah, it was no picnic knowing when _that woman_ was in the mood…"

_A dimensional layer and several worlds a__way, Precia Testarossa sneezed and wondered why she was thinking of her dead familiar…_

Fate narrowed her eyes against the glow of the impact of Illya's attack, the strange Earth magic incomprehensible to her. She clutched Bardiche tightly, its scythe blade already ready. As Illya's attack struck, Fate readied herself to charge, not trusting that to be sufficient. After all, it had withstood Nanoha's attack, and while her constructs were not magical in nature, they had a lot of kinetic and thermal energy to them, and anything that could withstand the amounts Nanoha liked to put into her attacks needed something more direct.

The blonde was charging in, her scythe ready, before the flash from Illya's attack had settled, the arc of the blade leaving a golden streak behind her as she darted forward. She angled in from behind, aiming for the black wings of the exposed back. Arf charged in from the side, close enough to give aid but not enough to be caught by area attacks- they hoped. The familiar gestured, an orange array appearing briefly before a bind snapped into place on the Book of Darkness's wrist.

Fate slashed, aiming for a debilitating attack, but the Book twisted out of the way. A wave-like move began from one leg, and with a cry of '_Unchained Knuckle_!', the bind breaking from around her wrist. It spun to face Fate, and she got their first good look at the enemy.

She was tall, easily Signum's height, and that wasn't the only physical attribute she shared with the knight. It was quite fortunate that Fate, unlike Illya, wasn't one for breast envy. She was wore a short, tight, black dress, a sort of wrap around armored skirt like Signum wore, and a short-sleeved jacket. Red cords wrapped around her limbs, glowing ominously, as did the tattoo-like markings on her face and down her arms and legs. More of the red lines traced themselves on the black knight armor. Long silver hair trailed down her back and framed her face, where golden eyes looked out from washed-out features. A small pair of red-veined black wings sprouted incongruously on either side of her head.

She just looked at Fate emptily as the blonde darted back, Bardiche raised defensively, a shield instinctively snapping into place between them.

The Book of Darkness streaked forward, her fist and a murmur of "_Schwarz Wirkung_" shattering the shield as Fate barely threw herself, cape almost getting snagged by the attack. She rallied, sending her scythe blade flying with a cry of "_Haken Saber!_". The Book casually backhanded it away with another indifferent gesture, shadows wrapping themselves around her forearm. She focused on Fate.

Thus, she never saw the flying shark coming.

The bus-sized fish, complete with Nanoha's usual add-ons of chainsaw teeth, laser cannons and gatling guns on its head, and missiles slung along its fins, slammed into the Book's now-exposed back like an oversized bullet from a giant gun. Fate could in fact see said giant gun dissolving back to whatever it was power ring constructs were made of a long way off over the Book's shoulder. The giant shark hit with jaws wide open, chomping at the black wings Fate had targeted, and anything else attached.

The Book of Darkness grunted at the impact, whirling to backhand the construct, her arm glowing darkly with magic and covered with some kind of spike-ridden black armor that wrapped around it even as she moved, only for the shark to ripple at the point of impact like over-watered lime jello-mix, the arm flowing into it, the force of the blow dispersed. The construct remained intact, to Fate's surprise, until she realized what Nanoha had done. Her constructs broke when it tried to match over-powering magic directly, so she'd set her constructs to allow force to pass through when faced with magic, allowing the construct to keep its integrity, and likely saving Nanoha from feedback headaches. The area struck had lost cohesion; the teeth, guns and everything else hadn't.

Chainsaw teeth whirred at the knight armor as the head lasers and gatling guns blasted at point-blank range and missiles exploded all over as Fate and Arf darted back out of the blast area. The attack was intensely loud and bright. Fate supposed that was one of the reasons why Nanoha wore a visor.

"_Lightning Bind!_" Fate cast, trying to entangle the Book to hold it for the shark.

"_Ring Bind!_" Arf cast, supporting her…

And that was when the Book of Darkness stopped being nice.

"_Shundo. Trace, on._"

The Book flickered and disappeared. It took Fate a moment to recognize the flicker as extreme speed instead of teleportation. By the time she did, the Book was already in front of her, a gleaming, golden sword in its hands.

"_Noble Phantasm: Caliburn,_" she intoned.

The shining sword burst with light, its point streaking inexorably towards Fate's torso.

"No!" Arf cried.

Something slammed into Fate's back with a startled cry of panic, and she had a brief moment to actually _feel_ the point of the sword against her breast, before Illya swung Ruby again, the mystic code actually slamming into the Noble Phantasm before the world seemed to _jerk_, and Fate found herself stumbling to the ground amidst a bunch of cooling vents as she and Illya both fell.

"_Crap,_ teleporting is hard like this!" Illya panted, on her knees behind Fate.

"Arf!" Fate cried, struggling to her feet, then wincing. She looked down. There was a slim, vaguely triangular chunk torn out of her skin barely half the size of her pinky nail, generously dripping blood down her front. It wasn't life threatening, but it _was_ painful, though nothing that would slow her down. Gritting her teeth– her mothers whippings had hurt more, and she'd gone hunting Jewel Seeds after taking those!– she turned towards her familiar. Arf was dodging and weaving in the air, trying to avoid the shining sword.

Fear for her familiar quickly made way for anger. Bardiche rose, the head flipping up to shooting mode. "_**GET AWAY FROM MY DOG!**_" she cried as magic gathered. "_**CARTRIDGE LOAD! PLASMA—!**_"

"Fate-san, NO!" Illya cried.

"– _**SMASHER!**_"

Illya facepalmed. "There goes my concealed position. Honestly, why bother planning?"

The air cracked like the whip of the god of archaeologists as the beam of lightning magic streaked through the air, ionizing it as the spell struck the Book of Darkness, taking her from behind. There was a blast of impact at the strike as the Book went tumbling, clearly not expecting the attack.

Fate stared at what she had accomplished. "Did we…?"

Illya sighed. "Fate-san, you should learn now: it's _never_ that easy. We need to run. Now."

Fate frowned. "But that was a direct hit!"

"So? It's never enough, trust—"

"_**ILLYA-CHAN!-!-!-!-!**_" Ruby cried.

Illya didn't look. If she didn't look, it couldn't hit her yet. "Told you so, " she told Fate darkly.

Fate's face took on an expression best summarized as "Oh, CRAP!". "Oh, poot, " she said, voice small.

"'Poot'? _Really, _Fate-san?"

"It's what Nanoha says…"

"Nanoha needs to learn how to swear."

"ILLYA!" Ruby cried.

"_Raitei Shourai: Genocide Shift!"_ echoed the spell.

Illya grabbed Fate, swinging Ruby to teleport again. The building they stood on exploded, blasted apart by dozens upon dozens of darting tongues of lightning.

They stumbled onto hard pavement, Illya gasping hard, feeling herself twitching involuntarily. Teleporting apparently was a lot worse the third time around. She didn't want a fourth. Fate snapped up a shield around them as debris rained, the top of the building they'd been in now ending twenty feet lower.

"I should have stayed at home, " Illya moaned. "Stupid chocolate cake…"

"Blasphemy, " Fate said, angling her shield to slide off debris so it wouldn't drop on them when she turned it off. "Nanoha's cakes are NOT stupid."

"Now's NOT the time, Fate-san…"

Now it was Fate's turn to pull Illya to her feet, trying to keep an eye on the sky. "Darn it, where is it…?"

Something crunched behind her. Illya's grip on Fate's arm suddenly turned to steel, the magical girl's legs suddenly sagging. "Agh…" Illya whispered. "Almost peed myself…"

Fate shoved Illya back, both hands gripping Bardiche as she spun the Device in a arc, the blunt head moving back and a shining golden blade blazing to life a moment before the now-scythe met a palely-glowing blade. The Book of Darkness moved with smoothly inhuman grace and perfect form, the Noble Phantasm in her hands beginning to grow a blue and crimson network of veins as it slashed at Fate, the sword's form already growing thorns and curving blades. Fate attacked desperately, Bardiche blurring through the night, its golden contrail weaving a strangely hypnotic pattern with Caliburn's glow. The Book only looked faintly amused. It shoved at Fate, knocking her back, and suddenly leapt up, its sword stabbing downward, its point aimed unerringly at Fate's heart.

"_Defenser, "_ Bardiche intoned, casting the defensive spell.

"_Noble Phantasm: Caliburn, "_ the Book countered.

The blade blazed with light, shattering through the shield as if it wasn't there as its piercing properties came to life. Fate swung Bardiche up to parry, but the blade moved inexorably straight, and sparks rose as a sliver of metal went flying from Bardiche's head.

"Ruby, _BIND!"_ Illya cried, and Caliburn stopped cold as the Book's arm was locked into place by several -star-shaped binds. "NANOHA, SHOOT! SHOOT NOW! Fate-san, MOVE!"

Fate darted back, even as the Book held out her free hand. "_Trace, on. Yuunagi. Shinmei-Ryu Ougi, Zanmaken Ni-No-Tachi: In Celebration Of Setsuna-chan's First Kiss With Her Konoka-Oujo-sama Strike…"_

The slashing attack carved out a crescent-shaped attack as Fate readied another shield as she continued to retreat…

Illya tackled Fate to the ground, the attack flying over them through the shield, shearing off the back of Illya's skirts. "Defense-piercing attack, " Illya panted in explanation, before swinging Ruby and knocking the Yuunagi-copy from the Book's hand. _"RUN LIKE HELL!-!-!-!-!"_

They scrambled out the way, taking to the air as the Book of Darkness broke the binds on her arm.

A giant jam jar fell out of the sky on top of her, and she slammed into its side. The Book stumbled back, blinking in confusion.

A giant green safe, an anvil, a refrigerator, a piano, an elephant, a blue whale, a Kaiju-class giant turtle, and a scale replica of Tokyo Tower fell out of the sky, squashing the jar and its contents beneath their combined weight and effectively leveling everything in their vicinity.

"ABOUT TIME!" Illya yelled at Nanoha.

The giant green pile exploded into a block-wide cloud of lightning that tore through the constructs, the golden tongues punching through the masses like they were jello. A single darkly-auraed form rose through one of the openings, its three pairs of wings flapping it into the air.

A flash of orange slammed into it from behind with a cry of "_RING BIND!"_

"Arf!" Fate called.

"Shoot it!" the familiar cried, wrapping binds on the Book, even as it started to neutralize them.

"Fire at will!" Nanoha's voice called to them. "_Cartridge Load! Willfire Intermix! __**AXEL BUSTER EMERALD CORE SHOT!"**_

A cartridge blasted. "_THUNDER BLADE!"_ Fate called. "_PHALANX SHIFT!"_

"RUBY!" Illya called. "MAXIMUM POWER! _**NANOHA GRADE GENOCIDE BLAST!-!-!-!-!"**_

"Hey!" Nanoha protested.

The three attacks converged on the hovering point of light. Arf flew back, still trying to throw binds.

The attacks met.

Arf was sent tumbling by the enourmous shockwave.

"Yeah!" Ruby cried victoriously. "Who da wand?-! Who da wand, bitch?-!"

Fate breathed hard, staring at the falling form of her familiar, and sighed in relief as it suddenly righted itself.

_Fate!_ Arf called telepathically. _Be careful! I heard her casting something before you hit! It sounded something like—_

A bolt of lightning seemed to leap from the expanding impact cloud, slamming into the glittering green figure of Nanoha. The aura winked out, and a form that shed an emerald glow began to fall from the air.

— _Raiten Taisou!_

...

It felt like she'd been struck by lightning.

There had been no warning. She'd barely begun to scan for Hayate and the Book after impact when Ring-chan and Raging Heart had both cried in alarm, flaring their energies before a human-shaped bolt of lightning slammed its fist into her. Her will-aura shattered under the impact, her Barrier Jacket and uniform exploding under the blow.

Her limbs spasmed as electricity coursed through her, and pain exploded in her chest. Blackness filled her vision as she began to lose consciousness, and she felt herself starting to fall…

"_Lantern experiencing cardiac arrest!"_ Ring-chan declared as gravity took Nanoha in its inexorable hold. "_Initiating Nanoha Emergency Medical Protocol 04: Defibrillation._"

"_I can't believe those are actually coming in handy, _" Raging Heart said. "_All right, perhaps those afternoons she spent programming you with protocols instead of training on her magic wasn't a waste of time."_

"_Oh, be useful and start reconstructing her Barrier Jacket, will you!"_ Ring-chan sniped, sounding a trifle smug.

"_My master is not providing energy, "_ Raging Heart said.

"_You have cartridges, don't you?"_ Ring-chan shot back. "_And I remember going through the trouble of designing an emergency energy reservoir for your shaft too. Clear!"_

Nanoha's chest spasmed as the ground rushed closer.

"_Defibrillation unsuccessful, "_ Ring-chan reported. "_Repeating. Clear!"_

Spasm.

"_Defibrillation unsuccessful. Repeating. Ground impact imminent. Engaging Nanoha Emergency Crash Protocol 7. Repeating defibrillation. Clear!"_

There was a 'whumf!' of impact as Nanoha crashed.

"_Barrier Jacket, reconstituted, "_ Raging Heart belatedly reported.

"_Heart, restarted, "_ Ring-chan said. "_Condition stabilized. Commencing consciousness revival."_

A green cellphone formed itself next to Nanoha's head from where she was lying on top of a giant pile of pillows and started to beep annoyingly. Grumbling, she grabbed the cellphone and flipped it off, before curling up. A blanket appeared on top of her.

"_This protocol appears to need work, "_ Raging Heart said.

"_Oh, shut up."_

Nanoha groaned and woke…

...

"A Tokyo Tower just got destroyed, " Alisa said blandly, staring at the giant green pile as it was annihilated by lightning. "That's it. It's official. Things are bad. We're screwed."

"Oh dear, " Suzuka agreed.

They looked at each other, their eyes meeting…

"The answer's still no, Suzuka."

"I didn't say anything."

"You were thinking it."

"Well, can you blame me?-!"

"Seriously Suzuka, your cousin Tomoyo is a bad influence on you."

...

Nanoha cursed herself as she gathered her will, reconstituting her Green Lantern uniform over her Barrier Jacket. "Ring-chan, location check! Where are Fate-chan and the others?"

_"Scanning. Life-signs of Fate Testarossa, Illya von Einzbern-Emiya and Arf located."_

Nanoha pulled the cartridge magazine off Raging Heart, checking it and sliding it back in. "Power check."

_"Ring Power at 72 percent."_

Nanoha nodded. Enough to fight. Good. "Tactical map."

Immediately, a holographic map of the sealed section of the city appeared before her. It was enormous, not only covering the whole metropolis but a decent swath of the land beyond and the bay as well. Labeled points of light indicated her friends and the possessed Hayate.

Hayate was moving insanely fast. The attached analysis indicated she was still converted into an electrical form. She'd heard of this. Negi's _Raiten Taisou._ "So it's true," Nanoha murmured. "The Book has our powers." Well, it wasn't the first time the Corp had to handle someone who could turn into some kind of energy. Electricity was rather tame, actually.

She clenched her fist, and kicked into the air.

...

The Book of Darkness charged at Fate again, leaving a clap of thunder in her wake.

"_Thunder Rage!"_ Fate cast again, sending the tendrils of the spell wide around her.

The Book of Darkness hit the network of ionized air, diverting randomly along the many myriad paths, out of control as it was forced to follow the paths of least electrical resistance. It deactivated the _Raiten Taisou,_ becoming solid again.

"_Durchstechen!_" Illya cried, the piercing beam slamming into the Book in the split second window of the shift, sending it tumbling.

The Book recovered, shielding itself from the pair's followup.

"It's not going to fall for that a third time," Illya said warily, hiding behind Arf's shield.

"We need to disengage from her," Fate panted. "Find Nanoha."

A thousand beams of emerald light blasted around them, curving around their bodies as they all converged on the Book of Darkness.

"I think Nanoha's okay," Arf said.

Fate turned behind her, relief flooding the blonde's face. "**_Nanoha-chan!"_**

"_Trace, on!_" the Book's counter echoed. "_Rho Aias!"_

"OH, COME ON!" Illya cried. "HOW MANY SHIELDS DOES THIS THING HAVE?-!"

The projectiles of light slammed into the Noble Phantasm, the leading beans stopping cold. Others tried to curve around the shield, only to meet nothing as the Book used the time to teleport out.

The four immediately formed a circle, watching all directions.

Fate saw it first. She paled at the sight, tugging on Nanoha's sleeve.

Nanoha did a double take. "Is that—?"

"_Gather!_" the aria echoed through the night, "_light of the stars!_"

Illya's eyes were wide and terrified. "Crap!" she breathed. "I know that spell…"

"Starlight Breaker…" Arf breathed.

"Run," Fate said, watching the spell that haunted her dreams grow larger than it ever had in real life. "Run now. Opposite directions. We need to scatter, get out of range."

"Fate-chan?" Nanoha said, hearing the naked fear in her friend's voice.

"Nanoha-chan, trust me when I we don't want to be on the receiving end of that spell," Fate said, grabbing Nanoha's hand and pulling the Lantern towards herself. Arf had already grabbed Illya and was racing away at right angles to the spell. Fate turned in the opposite direction, a cartridge loading as she switched to Sonic Form, pushing all her power into her speed. "_BLITZ RUSH!_ We need to get as far as we can from it if we want even a _hope_ of surviving. At point-blank range and it will go through our shields like they were wet tissue paper!"

"Dive among the buildings!" Nanoha cried. "Get under cover. If she can't see us, she can't hit us!"

It was a slim hope. Even a basic search spell could be used to target them, but Fate complied, diving down to above street-level and cutting into alleys, putting buildings between her and the Book as Nanoha wrapped her aura around them both, increasing their speed.

"_Sir,"_ Bardiche suddenly said. "_Non-combatants detected at 300 yards and closing._"

Nanoha's head snapped up. "What?-!" she demanded.

"_200._"

The two of them exchanged looks.

"Poot," they chorused.

"_Warning,"_ Raging Heart said. "_Firing imminent."_

"_120._"

Nanoha looked over her shoulder, dismissing her visor to get a better view. Already the magic being pulled into the spell was beginning to drop, meaning it had almost finished drawing in all stray magic. The gargantuan sphere glowed like a new sun, black and crimson streaks webbing its surface.

"_70. 50._"

"Drop me off here!" Nanoha said. "This has to be far enough! We need to set our shields _now!"_

Fate let go, Nanoha's aura leaving her as they both slowed down. Nanoha slammed into the ground hard, skidding on the asphalt, her aura kicking up dust and debris as it protected Nanoha from the forces that would otherwise have shattered every bone in her body upon landing. Fate's landing was more graceful as she landed lightly a little way past Nanoha.

"_20. 19. 18."_

Nanoha waved her hands to try and shop the dust away, before forming an electric fan to blow it all to one side. "Fate-chan," she called. "Do you see anyone?"

"_15._"

The sound of movement to one side. Nanoha turned to look instinctively. There was a gasp.

"Fate?" came Suzuka's voice. "_Nanoha?_"

There was a brief moment of silence.

"Well…" Fate found herself muttering. "_This_ is awkward…"

Mt. Alisa exploded. "**_WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE?-!-?-!-?-!"_**

In the distance, the Starlight Breaker unleashed.

"Oh, poot," Nanoha said succinctly.

Fate gestured towards their two friends. "_Defenser Plus,"_ Bardiche cast, a golden dome appearing over the two girls.

The Starlight Breaker touched down, and the earth shuddered. Buildings began to turn to rumble in an expanding ring.

"Stay inside that!" Fate ordered as she and Nanoha turned to face the blast.

Two cartridges blasted, filling Nanoha with concentrated magic. "_Wide Area Protection,"_ Raging Heart intoned, raising the curved, rippling barrier

"_Round Shield,"_ Fate cast, raising the spell between her and approaching pink blastwave. For once, the flashbacks of this spell being used on her brought her no comfort. Fate was painfully aware Nanoha's spells had always been nonlethal.

This spell wasn't.

"Ring-chan, access archives!" Nanoha ordered, keeping Raging Heart leveled. "Open weapon technical schematic library! Upload Thanagarian Nth metal-based shield generator!"

"_Schematic uploaded,"_ Ring-chan declared.

"_Create construct!"_

The extra-terrestrial machine began to take shape in green light, building itself perfectly from Ring-chan's memory, accessed from the Central Power Battery's ancient archives. Her constructs might not last as long as her spells when facing magic directly, but that didn't mean they were useless. It just meant they needed to not meet magic directly.

The machine came to life, construct components flowing with power, construct Nth metal performing its strange effects. It was only a fraction as effective as the real thing— reading between the lines when she'd perused the weapons library during Lantern training indicated Nth metal might be one of the few naturally-occurring magical substances in the universe— but it worked, raising the powerful energy shield around them.

The blastwave hit them. Pink filled their vision as the buildings around them began to bow back from the face of the spell, than crumble, then turn to dust as metal and concrete was rent asunder in seconds.

And for the first time in her life, Nanoha knew what it was like to be on the receiving end of one of her attacks.

...

On the absolute edge of the barrier, Arf and Illya watched the enormous, expanding dome of pink destruction, filled with their own remembrances of the spell.

"I sometimes have nightmares about that thing," Arf muttered.

"Me too," Illya agreed.

Ard looked at her quizzically. "When have _you_ ever faced that spell?"

"Ryuudo temple," Illya said, shuddering. "I'll tell you about it some time."

They lapsed into worried silence, Arf fretting about Fate— and Nanoha too, of course. Truth be told, Illya didn't know what to think. She'd seen this spell be the final blow to the manifestation of Ultimate Evil on Earth. A part of her murmured darkly that they were already dead.

Like her Berserker…

She tried to push down the thought, but it twisted inside her relentlessly. Berserker… he had not deserved to die.

But then, did anyone? Even their foe now was a little girl possessed…

"_Arf, Illya!"_ Nanoha's voice suddenly called, sounding strained. _"We have a problem. Alisa and Suzuka are still. In here with us!"_

"W-what?-!" Illya exclaimed. Arf growled something that was most likely rude.

_It looks like they were caught by the barrier as it went up,_ Fate sent. _Amy, can you teleport them out?_

_No good,_ an unfamiliar telepathic voice said in Illya's head. _There's something different about the barrier this time. It's been altered, and it's stronger to boot! Even if the interference from that blast fades, we can't risk trying to transport them out._

_Darn it,_ Fate said. _Arf, I'll need you to stay with them! Keep them safe!_

"But Fate—!" Arf protested.

_We'll be fine!_ Fate assured her. _We just have to survive through thi—_

Suddenly, she cut off.

"Fate?" Arf called. "**_FATE?-!"_**

...

With a shriek, the construct shield generator gave out, taxed beyond even the capacities Nanoha could imagine, its components dissolving to light.

She made a note to herself to work on imagining larger capacities.

Raging Heart shuddered in her hands as her Protection and Fate's Round Shield bore the full brunt of the Starlight Breaker. All about them was wasteland, buildings long since turned to dust. Only the asphalt behind their shields remained, and Nanoha had the horrible feeling that if this kept on, the spell would wear through the ground beneath that, and the wind would launch them into the air, breaking the defensive formation that was the only thing keeping them alive.

Alisa and Suzuka huddled together beneath the golden dome, watching as the friends they'd thought they knew fought to keep them alive. The winds around them roared like the choirs of the damned. The land about then was certainly hellish enough for it. The two magical girls before them— what else COULD they be?— stood defiantly against the force that sought to wipe them out.

And they, Alisa and Suzuka, could do absolutely nothing to help.

...

As Arf kept trying to call to Fate, Illya hesitantly called to the air. "Um, hello? Voice lady?"

_It's Amy, actually. Nice to meet you, Kaleido Ruby-san._

"Uh, yeah. I've got a question. See, my friend has a spell kinda like this barrier thing and she says it only let's people with magic inside. All normal people are kept out, right?"

_Yes, unless the __barrier is specifically set to include those without magic. That's what barriers are mostly used for in unadministered worlds. Why do you ask?_

"Well… if they're here… wouldn't that mean that N— I mean, Green Lantern and—" Darn it, what had Fate called herself again?

_Fate,_ the voice said, amused. _Nanoha and Fate._

Illya blushed. "Right. Well, if their friends are here… doesn't that mean their friends have… well… magic?"

...

There was an explosion, and what looked like a shotgun shell went flying from Nanoha's staff. The ripply shield she was holding before her seemed to get bigger, firmer.

Alisa could plainly see, however, that her friends were weakening.

_Behind the child, a presence watched, unseen…_

There was no sense if wanting to help. How could she? She'd been in over her head since the city became a ghost town.

_It hovered over her shoulder, watching, waiting…_

She could do nothing but hold on to Suzuka, praying, praying…

_"Yes…" the presence encouraged…_

… for something to happen.

_"Ask…"_

Praying…

_"…and ye shall receive…"_

… for a miracle.

_Poke._

And within her, a small thing stirred… and reached forth…

Alisa shuddered… and raised her hand…

...

Sailor Saturn suddenly gave a cry of surprise as her transformation unravelled around her in a burst of purple.

This was quite problematic, as she was standing on a moving vehicle hundreds of feet above the ground. Not _in_. **_On._**

She gasped at the sudden cold, losing her balance, no longer protected by her magic. It just seemed to have been… switched off.

"Saturn!" Sailor Uranus cried, and suddenly she was in her papa's strong, sure arms, shielding her from the wind. "What happened?"

"I…" Hotaru, just plain Hotaru, said in confusion. "I don't know…"

...

"_Silent Wall."_

And just like that, a meaure of silence descended as the irresistible force of the Starlight Breaker was met with an immovable object.

Fate and Nanoha gasped in relief as pressure eased on their shields, turning in shock.

They met the gaze of an equally surprised Alisa, clad in the white and purple of the Senshi of Silence. Wordlessly, Alisa stepped forward, adding her own shield. They weathered through the blast as it began to die down. The howling ceased. The world grew still and silent. They let their shields collapse, spent.

Fate felt like wilting, not knowing what to do or sa—

"Alisa-chan!" Nanoha exclaimed. "You've been Sailor Saturn all this time?-! Do your parents know you go to Tokyo a lot?"

Fate facepalmed.

Alisa opened her mouth to respond… and gasped, falling to her knees as the seifuku she wore collapse and disappeared around her, leaving her back in her school uniform.

"Alisa-chan!" Suzuka cried, catching the blonde.

...

Illya fought off the dizziness that had resulted from her teleporting Arf to where the others were. Nanoha was cradling Alisa, whose eyes were half-closed in exhaustion. "Please, don't get up," she slurred sarcastically. "I'm not dizzy at all. It's perfectly safe for me to be handling high-powered magic…"

"Takamachi," Alisa growled. "What the HELL is going on here?-!-?-!-?-!"

Nanoha made a wavy hand gesture, waggling her fingers. "This is all a _dream…_" she said in an attempt at a spooky voice.

Her classmates stared at her.

"No? Well, it was worth a shot…" Nanoha said lamely.

"Takamachi…!" Alisa started to growl.

"What you saw was actually a weather balloon reflecting off sewer gas with the light from Venus," Nanoha tried.

"We were with you when we saw that movie!" Alisa ground out.

"I'm not the girl you're looking for?"

Illya clapped a hand on Nanoha's shoulder. "Give it a rest, Nanoha-chan. You obviously suck at lying."

As Nanoha pouted, Alisa pointed at Arf. "Hey, I know you! You're that weird lady from that hotspings!"

Fate turned to Suzuka. "Nothing to add?

Suzuka thought about it. "I'm going to die a virgin?"

Nanoha blinked. "What's a virgin?"

"**_ASK YOUR MOTHER!-!-!-!-!_**" they all chorused.

"Oh, come on!"

"Arf," Fate said to her familiar. "Stay with Alisa and Suzuka. Keep them safe, okay?"

Arf frowned, but nodded. "Be careful, Fate, Nanoha-chan."

"Hey! Where are you going?-!" Alisa demanded.

Illya shook Ruby. "Take a wild guess."

...

"Explaining this to them later is going to be difficult," Fate said.

Illya looked at them. "Wait, you mean you guys don't have any convenient memory erasing magic?"

"Of course not!" Fate said, shocked.

Nanoha whistled nonchalantly. Illya looked at her suspiciously.

"What?" she said. "_I've_ never used that feature of my ring!"

"And now I'm going to be paranoid every time I talk to you," Illya muttered.

Nanoha recalled her visor, setting it to scan. "I've found Hayate-chan and the Book."

"What do we do now?" Fate asked.

Nanoha frowned, and began counting on her fingers. "Oh! I forgot! Oh, I hope I don't get court-martialed for forgetting this…"

"Huh?" Illya said, confused.

Nanoha frowned in concentration._ Hayate-san! Book of Dar— er, Tome of the Night Sky-san! Please cease and desist these violent actions and surrender yourselves immediately to my custody! If you comply, I promise you leniency and that I will devote every resource in my disposal to finding a means to keep you from self-destructing!_

Nanoha nodded in satisfaction, then blinked as she saw how Fate and Illya were staring at her. "What?"

"I have to ask," Illya said, "has that _ever_ worked with anyone?"

"It worked with Fate-chan," Nanoha said.

"_After_ you shot me in the face with Starlight Breaker," Fate said.

"I NEVER AIMED FOR THE FACE!"

And then they heard it. A soft, weak voice, not really a sound but almost an afterthought of the wind…

_… help… me… _

Fate raised a hand for silence. "Can you hear…?"

_… help… me…_

"Hayate? Tome of the Night Sky-san?" Nanoha called.

_… _**_help_**_… _

Illya felt her skin start to crawl. "RUBY!" she barked, swinging the wand. "ALL POWER TO SHIELDS! INCLUDE ROTATIONAL VECTOR!"

The streaking Caliburn punched through her shield like it didn't exist, but the additional rotation of the shield jerked the Noble Phantasm enough off course that it only sliced a line across Illya's cheek. Fired burned along the pale-haired girl's face as blood fell down in a sheet. She cried out in pain.

"_I think she's using Archer's powers now,"_ Ruby opined. "_The long-range ones."_

"Split up!" Illya cried.

They did, suiting actions to words. Illya ducked and covered, though given how everything had been leveled by Starlight Breaker there wasn't a lot of cover to be had. Nanoha turned invisible, momentarily turned all-green before disappearing. Fate charged, her cape disappearing as she went to Sonic Form, scythe in hand. "_Sonic Drive, Ignition,"_ Bardiche intoned.

"Fate-chan!" Nanoha's disembodied voice cried.

"No!" Illya called. "She's trying to draw fire for us so we can attack! Don't—!"

Green light appeared from nowhere, shooting at the Book of Darkness from seemingly nowhere. Said seemingly nowhere, Illya could see, was clearly flying towards the Book to back up Fate.

"— bother listening to Illya-chan," the homunculus muttered. "It's not like she's full of sense or anything."

The Book casually warded of the emerald beams as she looked at Fate. The physical book hovered next to her, pages flipping to a particular passage. She raised a hand, power gathering. "_Practe Begi Nar,"_ she began, already swinging to meet Fate's blade, "_Ensis Exseq—"_

Then she shuddered, the glowing crimson lines writhing momentarily as one golden eye turned a sad, haunted red.

"_…Absorption… "_ the floating book said quietly.

Fate's blade slammed into a Belkan Triangle. It stopped her cold, her own force rebounding on her.

And then she started to glow. Fate's eyes widened in surprise as the glow around her intensified. The Book of Darkness seemed equally shocked. Thus, it was unprepared for the oil-tanker-sized boxing glove that punched it to the city limits.

"Fate-chan!" Nanoha cried, catching her friend. "Ring-chan! Raging Heart! Analysis!"

"_Analysis inconclusive,"_ Ring-chan said. "_It might be the non-existent M-word."_

"_Insufficient data to draw conclusions,"_ Raging Heart said. "_Um, my master?"_

"Yes?"

"_You're glowing."_

Nanoha looked down at herself as a pink glow began to cover her. In her arms, Fate turned completely into golden light, disappearing like a popped bubble.

"Oh, poo—"

Pop.

...

Illya watched in horror as the two powerful Magical Girls she'd been hoping would help keep her alive vanished off the face of the Earth. "Oh, poot," she said. "Wait, why am I saying that? Oh shit, _oh shit, _**_OH SHIT!-!-!-!-!-! I'M FUCKING GOING TO DIE!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!_**_"_

"_Yeah, we're very screwed,"_ Ruby agreed.

"WE COULD BARELY TAKE THAT THING ON TOGETHER!" Illya cried. "My god, I'm going to die a virgin!"

_Somewhere, Suzuka and Kuro sneezed._

"_I mean, they managed to take down Archer!"_ Ruby said. "_Even Berserker was killed. I don't…"_

Ruby's voice suddenly disappeared from Illya's ears as a roaring seemed to fill them. Berserker… her Berserker…

First him… then Fate and Nanoha…

And suddenly she was angry. She wanted to tear, to hurt, to take Ruby and unleash her pain upon this one who dared take from her, who dared harm her. She was a Master of the Holy Grail War! She was a magus! She was a **MAGICAL GIRL!-!-!-!-!** She would show this BOOK what she could do! She'd…

A voice, weak but unbroken. A fallen giant at her feet.

_Promise me… not vengeance. Justice. They did what they did with the best of intentions… to save a child like you…I give them my core freely… please, see that they get what they deserve…_

What they deserved? Oh, she would give them what they deserved. Suddenly she was tired of running away. Tired of hiding. Tired of standing in the back.

She reached down to her thigh and drew out her Class Cards. The Archer Card still felt dull in her hands, used. Useless to her. She turned to the others.

The Lancer… No. Lancer's powers would be no good here.

The Assassin… Fire. Ice. Force. Magic. And a zombie T-Rex.

And…

She drew the last card.

Ruby was still talking, but she abruptly cut off as Illya stood and knelt.

"_Let thy body rest under my dominion,"_ Illya intoned, face set, voice determined. "_Let my fate rest in thy blade! If thou submittest to the call of the Holy Grail and if thou wilt obey this mind, this reason, then thou shalt respond!_"

Beneath her feet, light blazed, resolving itself into a circular array.

"_I make my oath here! I am that person who is to become the virtue of all Heavens!"_

She felt the power begin to flow, the Card in her hand coming to life.

_"I am that person __who is covered with the evil of all Hades! Thou seven heavens, clad in a trinity of words, come past thy restraining rings, and be thou the hands that protect the balance-!"_

Darkness began to wreath her, and suddenly her skin burned, her Command Seals once more burning to life. She felt the fire and welcomed it, her voice calling out.

"_I am the terror that flies through the darkened skies! I am Justice from the shadows! I am Darkness! I am Vengeance! I am the Night!"_

"_I!"_

"_Am!"_

"**_BERSERKER!"_**

The next word was a nearly silent growl.

"_Install…"_

The power reached its peak, wrapping Illya in dark armor. Angular, sharp-edged metal covered her eyes. Curved metal horns arched from the sides of her mask, jarring against her brilliant hair. A breastplate of eye-wrenching black metal, with smooth curves contrasting with sharp angles and spikes. A belt, strung all about with pouches and weapons, supporting a skirt of plate armor. High metal boots in the same disorienting asymmetry of curves and edges. Clawed gauntlets, their armored backs wrapped with chains. A cape hung down her back, edge scalloped and black as night. A black haze seemed to cover her, and in the light of the stars she seemed to vanish into the night beyond.

The Mad Enhancement struck.

She threw back her head and roared…

...

Fate woke from hazy dreams to find herself lying on a large bed. Sunlight filled the large, circular room as she looked about her in confusion. She knew this room. She'd lived here, once, in another life. Next to her, against a large bound, a little puppy-Arf slept.

On the other side of the bed, a loud beeping sound began to chime. She turned to a large mound beneath the blankets, a hand reaching out to pull a cellphone beneath it. There was an unintelligible mutter.

The mound in the middle of the bed next to Fate began to move. A golden-haired head poked out, rubbing her eyes. "Nanoha-chan," the girl muttered. "You said you'd turned that off…"

Fate found herself staring at her own face. Her own eyes. She felt her mouth slacken in shock.

The girl seemed to notice. "Eh? Fate-chan?" she said, straightening her dark-green nightgown that matched the sheets that still hung from one shoulder. "Imouto? Are you all right?"

Fate flapped her mouth, and managed to speak on the seventh try. "Alicia…"

Alicia Testarossa smiled. "Good morning, little sister…"

...

**- To be continued...**

...

A/N: We have crossed the CLAMP threshold and heading nonstop towards the Gojira threshold. Enjoy!

In the chapters of the Governor's Ball, one of the girls explicitly says Mahora has something like it on Christmas. What Negi was doing at that time in canon, I have no idea.

On Caliburn's function as a Noble Phantasm: Caliburn is the ultimate defense-piercing Noble Phantasm, able to pierce through even a dragon's hide. It stems from how easily Caliburn was inserted in the stone and set in place to choose the next king.

...

**OMAKE!**

...

_**From the files of Chao Lingshen, Temporal Renegade:**_

**Full Name:** Saotome Haruna

**Known Aliases**: Paru, Kira Deathote Paru-sama, The Creepy Mangaka Supreme

**Alignment:** Extreme Chaotic, Romantic Neutral

**ECL: **Rank B+ threat

**Religion: **Awesomerism

**Sexual****ity: **Lovable Sex Maniac

**Family: **she doesn't talk about it. The rumors she is somehow related to Tomoyo Daidouji and Raven of the Teen Titans on her father's side, however, is widely rampant, though unsubstantiated.

**Affiliations: **Mahora Academy, Ala Alba, the United Magical Girls (and Boys) Association, Daidouji Toys Merchandising Division and Design Advisor for the Ala Alba line of Action Figures.

**Background:** Once a normal student of Mhora Academy, (that is to say, slightly nuts), her life unknowingly took a turn for the magical when Negi Springfield became her class's homeroom teacher. (it was already strange). at first, her interaction with him was strictly limited to encouraging Nodoka to admit her feelings for him. However, she managed to divine the existence of magic during the Mahorafest Budokai, and the world was doomed.

During the Mahorafest Incident, she primarily played a support role, creating rudimentary constructs for their needs, blocking time bullets and helping Ku Fei block 3 Chachamaru mass production units to buy Negi time to reach his objective (Personal Note: still eternally grateful on behalf of the multiverse al she got was the sketchbook and not something more creative).

After Mahorafest, she developed her skills with her Artifact, creating more magically powerful and sophisticated constructs capable of flight, thought response, and even energy beam attacks. It is significant to note that, upon being separated from Ala Alba during the Gateport incident, she actually managed to prosper alone, having earned enough money to both buy a used airship and outfit it with black market weapons.

In the end, she, like the rest of Ala Alba, was instrumental in the defeat of Kosmo Entelekhia. Things, however, did not settle down. She, like the rest of Ala Alba, was drawn into the incident known as the 'Book Of Darkness and Yet Another Reason To Stay The Hell Away From Earth (Unadministered World #97)' case. It was during this that she first floated the idea for the United Magical Girls Association. After the attack of Lee Syaoran, Green Lantern (2814.1) approached her about the idea and with the assistance of Sailor Mercury, Chisame, and Kuro and Ilya von Einzbern-Emiya, they managed to begin the organization. It had its initial run during the so-called 'Power Rangers' Incident and was considered a success.

She, Nodoka, Yue, and the cute mute classmate Cassandra (see note: Agent: "Spoiler") faced off against the knight Vita during the Wolkenritter's attack on Mahora, and prevented her from taking Evangeline's Linker Core. She was also one of those who responded during the Invader mass-activation incident at the end of the 5th Holy Grail War in Fuyuki city.

**Powers and Abilities: **Haruna is a trained librarian, and thus skilled in rappelling, unarmed combat, small arms combat, whips, the Dewey Decimal System, library and wilderness survival, spelunking, book repair, finding the smutty books intentionally misplaced in the shelves by students trying to keep them all to themselves, locking, and trap identification and disbarment, among other skills. She also has an understanding of the magical black market, and knows how to acquire things from it.

Her Artifact, the Imperium Graphices, allows her to create anything she can draw. These can range from simple golem caricatures doodles to highly advanced human-sized mobile suits with flight, energy beam, and rocket punch capability. Coupled with her devious imagination, it is both a highly versatile tool and a dangerously effective weapon. She is an asset to Ala Alba, however, for her organizational skills, information processing, tactical planning and motivational abilities. While not exactly a leader, she can bring together any sort of group that is needed for any situation, though she lacks the ability to lead it effectively.

...

**END!**

...

Please review, C&C welcome. Add to the TvTropes page please!

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	26. World's Finest

A/N: to those that followed the dearly department 2814 thread on spacebattles, a new thread has been established on TvTropes. Please join us.

….

Takamachi Nanoha of 2814

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 26: World's Finest

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story. If I did… well, this would all be canon. WARNING: MAY CAUSE HEAD EXPLOSION!

….

Fate woke from hazy dreams to find herself lying on a large bed. Sunlight filled the large, circular room as she looked about her in confusion. She knew this room. She'd lived here, once, in another life. Next to her, against a large mound, a little puppy-Arf slept.

On the other side of the bed, a loud beeping sound began to chime. She turned to a large mound beneath the blankets, a hand reaching out to pull a cellphone beneath it. There was an unintelligible mutter.

The mound in the middle of the bed next to Fate began to move. A golden-haired head poked out, rubbing her eyes. "Nanoha-chan," the girl muttered. "You said you'd turned that off…"

Fate found herself staring at her own face. Her own eyes. She felt her mouth slacken in shock.

The girl seemed to notice. "Eh? Fate-chan?" she said, straigthening her dark-green nightgown that matched the sheets that still hung from one shoulder. "Imouto? Are you all right?"

Fate flapped her mouth, and managed to speak on the seventh try. "Alicia…"

Alicia Testarossa smiled. "Good morning, little sister…"

The door to the room opened, and a ghost from the past walked in. "Good morning Fate-chan, Alicia-chan, Arf, Nanoha-chan."

Fate found herself staring again. "Linith…"

"Wake up now, children," she said pleasantly, walking over to the curtains and tugging them open the whole way. Nanoha winced, rubbing her eyes with her right hand. "Breakfast is ready."

Arf gave a little happy yelp, nudging Fate with her head before leaping off the bed. "Come on Fate!" she cried.

Fate could only stare. What the hell was going on here…?

….

Suzuka carried Alisa, the blonde's arm over her shoulder. The tall, busty, rather sluttily-dressed woman supported Alisa on the other side by dint of holding her upper arm near the shoulder. Her other hand was raised, a ball of energy with some kind of ring orbiting around it held ready. She was snarling, sniffing the air, feet stepping lightly as she kep the girls moving.

Not far behind them, a thunderous explosion rose, followed by the sound of collapsing masonry. A lot of it. The woman, Arf, looked behind them nervously and grimaced.

"S-so," Suzuka said. "How do you know Fate and Nanoha?"

"Fate-chan is my master," Arf said softly, her voice low. "As for Nanoha-chan… we fought."

"Ah…" Suzuka said knowingly. "Did it hurt much?"

"Hurt like hell. The girl likes using sharks."

"In the face?" Alisa said fuzzily.

"Yup. She SAYS she doesn't aim there, but I could tell!"

"I can't believe they were Magical Girls and didn't tell us," Alisa managed to grouse. "Fate-chan was Black Reaper, even! Some friends…"

"Ah!" Suzuka sighed. "Black Reaper-chan! Maybe Fate will let me take exclusive pictures."

"Hey, you're a Magical Girl too and you didn't tell them," Arf pointed out.

"_I_ didn't know I was one. What's _their_ excuse?"

"Got them there…"

They turned a corner and stopped dead at the Book of Darkness stepped out of the shadows before them, body clad in crimson-veined, dark armor of strange curves and eye-wrenching designs. Her eyes were cold, empty and merciless, a crimson spear in her hands. "Perish…" she said sibilantly, drawing her words like a snake's. "Die so I may endure…"

Arf threw her readied spell before it finished speaking, crying at the two girls with her to run. The armor had somehow blocked her sense of smell, letting it sneak up on them, and the spear parried aside the spell. The bind in it locked the weapon in place, and the Photon Lancers with it exploded, driving the Book back by maybe a half-step as her armor just soaked up the damage.

"Run like hell!" Arf cried, picking up both girls and kicking off, her feet leaving the ground. Their retreat was cut off as swords fell out of the air into their path, nearly impaling them.

Alisa felt her stomach roil at the abrupt change of vectors. She tried to do… whatever the heck she'd done when she'd made the shield thing, but she didn't have any clue what she'd done in the first place. The swords, the world, the situation… it was all unreal.

The explosion behind them that sent them flying seemed too loud in her ears. In silence, Arf twisted, putting herself between them and the blades, a shield at her back. The familiar grunted as the edges of some of the blades overcame her shield, and she dropped to the ground beneath them, her back bleeding, the blades barely moved from where they stabbed in the ground.

Frantically, Alisa flailed, trying to do… whatever. Suzuka had clamped against her in instinct, whimpering. A dark, insinuating voice whispered maybe she should have indulged Suzuka when…

"I'm straight, darn it," she muttered. "I'm straight, I'm straight, I'm straight!"

The Book of Darkness paused to snort. "Yeah, right…"

Alisa managed a glare.

And that's when a piece of the night swung feet first into the Book's face, throwing her back across the street. The blur landed lightly on the explosion-scarred, silent as a shadow. Alisa felt her eyes start to cross. Her eyes seemed determined not to make out details. Just a swatch of the night vaguely her size, form blurring and wavering. A swarm of swirling metal blades suddenly seemed to him through the sir, slamming into the book. Each blade exploded in a concussive burst and brilliant lights. Alisa blinked, the sudden spots in her eyes blinding her.

The dark form seemed to look over its shoulder, and Alisa caught sight of curving horns bracketing a metal masked face and narrow, grim lips. A lock of pale hair curled against one cheek. "_**Go,**__**"**_ she said, her voice a low, menacing, slightly unhinged growl of animalistic command taken from humanity's most terrifying night terrors. Alisa felt a flutter in her chest she knew was DEFINITELY not the result of confused sexuality and more likely an impending heart attack.

Arf made a whimpering sound on top of a full-body shudder. "Ah… oh good, I _didn't_ lose control of my bladder…"

The Book of Darkness, tears in its blinded eyes, snapped up a hand, snarling out a spell. "_Blütiger__ Dolch!_!"

Crimson daggers formed out of the air, hanging still for a heartbeat before leaping forward, seeking blood. Arf blearily snapped up a hand, casting a Round Shield. The first few impacted explosively, knocking Arf back and destroying her shield. Suzuka screamed as the rest flew straight at them.

The small, dark form seemed to materialize between them and the daggers, a length of curved, edged metal in either hand. With a snarl, she swung the blades, catching the daggers and detonating them prematurely. Her cape fluttered behind her with each explosion. Suzuka felt her bones rattle at each one, felt the brief, fierce blast of air on her face as each dagger was intercepted.

"That's impossible," Alisa breathed. "No one can do that…"

Arf opened one eye. "Meh, looks par for this planet to me."

The dark figure slashed at the last dagger violently, and didn't slow. She threw both blades at the Book of Darkness, each spinning through the air with deadly grace. They exploded in the Book's face, but this time, instead of light and sound, they dissolved into nets of dark, constricting metal that wrapped around the Book's limbs, binding them to her torso. A moment later, they crackled with electricity, the air filling with ozone.

The shock net was followed by a razor-edged, serrated black disc with a bulbous center that exploded a hair's breadth from her face, coating her in some sort of viscous goo. It burst into flames on contact with the crackling electricity, finally making the Book cry out in surprise.

Arf was hauled to her feet with wiry strength by sharp, claw-like gauntlets on her biceps. "_**Move**__**…**_" the dark figure snapped, and Alisa suddenly found herself more or less on her feet and running from the scene before she realized what was happening. Her knees tried to buckle, but she managed to push them on, some of her strength returned now.

Arf had teleported them to a part of the city where things were still mostly standing, though here and there a sign had fallen or a window had broken from the shaking, earthquake-like impact of the Starlight Breaker. Therefore, they had a lot of cover to run through as they put as much space between and the screaming Lost Logia as they could. Arf soon managed to get back to her feet, picking up Suzuka and Alisa so she could fly, following the dark figure's lead.

They lost her between one shadow and the next, and Arf skidded– more or less– to a stop, looking about wildly. "The heck?-!" she exclaimed, sniffing the air. "Her scent's gone! Where'd she go?"

"_SAGITTA __MAGICA!-!-!-!-!_" came the scream from behind them.

A thousand and nine arrows of fire flew into the sky, only to curve downwards in a wide, expanding circle. Force and fire erupted on impact.

"Never mind, not important!" Arf said hastily, kicking it back into high gear.

"Who _was_ that masked girl?" Suzuka wondered.

"Probably another one of Nanoha's Magical Girlfriends she doesn't think we're cool enough to know about," Alisa grumbled.

"Actually, I'm pretty sure Fate's the only one who wants that position," Arf said.

….

It hurt like hell.

The Berserker class was regarded as a poison pill by those who knew of such things. Power in exchange for madness. It was usually used– or was intended to be used– to strengthen a weak Servant, turning a paltry little thing like, say, Guy Fawkes (Who? Exactly), into a deadly juggernaut more in common with a rabid dog just present enough to obey commands than a thinking human being. Or at least, that's what people have thought.

The problem was people drew these suppositions from a painfully small subject pool consisting of four incidents, each incident fifty years apart, and those possessing accurate information finding it tactically unwise to make that information known to others. What little was known of it– or, indeed, the other classes– is derived from passing comments and observations made by traditionally closed-mouthed magi to someone lucky enough to survive, who was likely suffering Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder at that point: the journals and notes, if any, of said observers, what little they were willing to write down; what little the Einzbern had said publicly that the Makiri, Tohsaka and the Church had been willing to reveal; and what little exposition those 4 Berserkers had managed to sputter out or another Servant had been able to surmise that they had been willing to share with their Master and the Master had been willing to either record and share.

Given all this uncertainty, the only true 'facts' about the Berserker class likely boiled down to: it existed; it boosted the Servant's stats while affecting mental functions; it had a markedly higher energy requirement to maintain; and it somehow _worked_.

Illya, at the moment, was getting first-hand experience on the matter. And it hurt.

Epic Spirits were drawn to the class they fitted in life. Sabers used swords, Casters were magic-users, Lancers used spears. It hadn't been a large leap of reasoning to surmise that one of the requirements to be a Berserker was that a spirit needed to have gone insane at some point of their lives, however temporarily.

It was, as such things went, close to accurate. It was also highly misleading.

Madness is not a digital state. It is not that one is either mad or sane. Reasoning people, knowing that reason is the only true evolutionary advantage they possess, fear to lose it, and thus see its loss or degradation as a dark, evil thing, to be feared. Madness, like death, is a spectrum, with subtle grades and nuances. Even as sanity is dictated by the masses, so too is madness.

So it is true, all of the Berserker class are mad. But madness is a many-faceted thing. There is the madness that comes only in battle, where one fights and fights and kills without thought, and the word blurs until the battle is over. There is the madness called genius, the power to see things that others do not, and lets you bend the world around you into a new, wonderful, terrible thing. There is the madness called love, that both blinds and illuminates.

And there is the madness of obsession.

_Vengeance! Justice! The blood on the ground… the seeds of pearls… mother! Father!_

Illya felt Berserker's– _her_ Berserker's– madness now. It was a thing of loss, of pain, of anger so hot it became a holy, rigtheous thing. She felt its heat burn her muscles, her skin, giving her inhuman strength. Heat was nothing. Cold was nothing. Pain was nothing. The limits of the world around her were guidelines, not laws, and she could gleefully dance against, over and beyond their shaking, wavering borders. She _WAS_ darkness! She _WAS_ vengeance! She _WAS_ the knight!

She!

Was!

_**Berserker!**_

The fire tried to scour her mind, to fill it with the hurt, the rage. It called on her to spread the hurt, to make the world bleed for her, to burn, to break, for her, all for her!

She didn't. The Oath wouldn't let her.

_I swear by the spirits of my parents to avenge their deaths for the rest of my life… to fight against crime and corruption, and never swerve from the path of rigtheousness…_

There was more to it that that, but those words were the core. It gave her strength. It gave her purpose. It was a wall that wrapped around the nakedness of her soul and armored her beyond the dreams of mere mortals and gods, a Conceptual Weapon in and of itself, a Noble Phantasm that guarded her mind and soul from all that sought to ravage it… even her own power.

_Noble Phantasm: Oath Against Endless Evil._

Behind its wall, her mind was clear, even as her body growled and stalked like a beast. She saw opportunities, analyzed the situation, formed plans. It weakened her, this Oath, making the passive form of Mad Enhancement not as effective as it could have been, but now clear thought was a deadlier and greater power than a mere stat boost.

She stalked the shadows, avoiding the Sagitta Magica falling from the sky. It didn't matter they lit the night. All she needed was the smallest sliver of shadow to stand in, and she was invisible, skipping from one dark patch to the next. She kept the Book distracted, kept them away from Arf, Alisa and Suzuka. To protect innocents was part of the Oath too.

She made no sound as she struck from behind, her armor concealing her completely. Heartbeat, scent, heat, sound, magical signature… all were shrouded by her armor, seemingly brief and abbreviated as it was. Despite the exposed skin, she knew it would protect her from the crushing depth of the sea all the way to the vacuum of space. Yup, Berserker could breath in space.

_Noble Phantasm: Armor of Darkest Night._

Her foot, powered beyond what her small frame could give by the spirit and madness she channeled, slammed into the back of the Book's knee, and there was a crack as anatomy, even magically reinforced anatomy, was defeated. The Book gave a short cry of pain, but slammed its flight into gear, turning quickly in place and scything the air with an _Ensis__Exsequence_.

Illya was already gone, however, faded back into the shadows.

The bomb she left was still there, though.

It burst in a wave of force, sound and light, blinding the Book again and ringing her bells if not actually stunning her. Dazed, it kicked into the air, but a chain wrapped around it's leg, pulling it back down and slamming it into the ground. The Book reacted, sending _Schwalbe__Fliegen_ flying like buckshot.

There was again nothing, the end of the chain tied to a car slammed into a wall, its lights still blinking.

Somewhere inside the Book's Grail-Corrupted self, two brains cells rubbed together, and it rolled as the ground beneath it exploded, raising a shield against debris as it finished resetting its leg. The wings on its back flapped, and suddenly it was streaking into the sky, a darkly glowing radiance.

"_Hraesvlgr!_" it snarled, and several streams of power lanced downwards into the city.

What followed were several smaller, briefer repeats of the impact of Starlight Breaker. Corrupted as it was, the Book recognized that it had a tactical advantage in flight and that trying to hunt down its prey was pointless when it could just resort to aerial bombardment.

As the air rumbled with multiple impacts, someone tapped them on the shoulder. "'Scuse me."

Blinking, the Book turned.

"_RING__ CONSTRUCT!__ STARLIGHT__ BREAKER!_"

The Book's world turned green.

As the barrier rippled where the Book had been slammed into it, Yuuno blew on his ring. "Now I get why Nanoha likes doing that. Very satisfying. _Asura_, I'm in and have made contact. Can you teleport Arf out yet?"

"_Negative,__"_ Amy said. "_There__'__s__ too__ much__ interference__ from __all__ the __big__ spells __it__'__s __released, __plus__ the __barrier__ seems__ to__ be __adapting. __We__ can__ guide__ them__ somewhere__ safe,__though,_"

"Do that," Yuuno said. "I'm going to go find my partner."

….

_I'm dreaming, _was Fate's only coherent thought. _I'm unconscious and this is all just a dream my psyche is dishing out to cover up the fact I'm actually in extreme agony and dying from injuries taken against the Book of Darkness._

For a dream though, it sure felt real. There was no haze of unreality that usually accompanied Fate's dreams, as she remembered them, no sense of belonging. The scene didn't feel natural, it felt wrong and unsettling but _real_.

Yet the feel of Nanoha and Alicia's hands on hers felt so warm and soft and she wondered if this _could_ be a dream, one of those that had her blushing and were DEFINITELY the result of watching that Utena anime Amy liked, and not for any other underlying psychological reason, no sir, not her, because she was STRAIGHT, very STRAIGHT, yes sir, that was her, straight as a line, definitely, yay boys, go dicks, not that she'd ever seen any because she was a GOOD girl who didn't look at or keep any of those magazines like the ones Amy kept in the back of her closet in a bag hanging inside her dress uniform, or those magazines Chrono-kun kept rolled up in his dress boots next to his hat with the girl on girl DVDs inside it…

Fate realized she was drooling and wiped her mouth.

"Wow, you must be really hungry, imoutou," Alicia said, laughing. "Don't eat too much though or you'll be as big as a house!"

"I-I don't eat that much," Fate protested, feeling like this was something she'd done before. "And I'm a growing girl, so it's all right even if I did!"

"Don't tease Fate-chan like that, Alicia-née," Nanoha defended her. "Besides, it seems to be working. She's already taller than you!"

Alicia pouted. "Nanoha-chan! You're being very disrespectful to an elder!"

Fate found herself chuckling as the two bickered good-naturedly, to the accompaniment of Arf's barks.

And then they reached the dining room and she stopped dead. Nanoha and Alicia's hands slipped from hers, but they didn't seem to notice as they rushed in, Nanoha bowing to the woman sitting at the head of the table, Alicia cheering and giving her a hug of greeting.

Precia Testarossa looked nothing like Fate had seen her last, ranting in apoplectic fury as the Garden of Time was literally dismantled from around her piece by piece, component by component (she vaguely recalled Nanoha telling her the pieces were still on the moon awaiting the TSAB to retrieve it as evidence), eyes wide in madness and rage, lightning spells crackling from her fingers and blood dripping from her mouth. The woman she saw was far removed from the distant, icy figure she could remember for most of her actual existence. The few wrinkles on her still-lovely face seemed the result of smiles instead of years of toil and sickness.

Fate suddenly felt so small and insignificant, ducking behind one of the marble pillars that flanked the dining room.

"Precia, I have some bad news," she heard Linith say. "It might rain or even snow today."

There was a pause as Fate leaned back against the pillar, trying to control her breathing. Then Linith called out, "Come on, Fate."

_Mother never hurt me when Linith was around,_ she said to herself, and forced herself to take what comfort she could from that. She stepped back from the pillar, eyes filled with trepidation as she met Precia's gaze. There was none of the darkness there she had come to know, only a slight, benevolent smile. She knew that smile, though never from her own memories. It was one she had only seen in what she knew now to be Alicia's recollections, a small, indulgent smile. It made her ache inside.

"Fate," Precia asked, and it was a soft, tender voice that made a little piece of her heart that still thought of itself as Alicia cry tears of joy, "what's the matter?"

Linith was talking about Fate having a nightmare but she had eyes only for that smile, drawn inexorably to it like was Nanoha's underwe— er, like it was a siren's lure.

Nanoha and Alicia were teasing her about studying too hard, but that was only so much background fluff as Precia called to her. There was no whip in her mother's hands, and no spell danced between her fingertips. Fate walked to her hesitantly, stopping with her head bowed, not meeting Precia's eyes.

Soft hands reached for her face, and an animalistic instinct made her start to draw back. Precia's hands stilled, and so did she. Gently, Precia reached up to cup Fate's chin, meeting her eyes. Her smile held only love and concern.

"You must have had a really scary nightmare," Precia said soothingly, and oh how it made her heart ache, "but everything's all right now. I'm here with Linith and Alicia and Nanoha… We're all here with you."

"Precia, I'm here too!"

Precia laughed. "Yes, and Arf too."

Linith leaned down to her. "By the time you finish breakfast, that dream will have faded away…"

This was a dream. It had to be a dream. Linith and Alicia were long gone. Precia had never smiled at Fate like that. And Nanoha, though she hid it well, hated Fate's mother. It had to be a dream.

And yet, as she watched Alicia digging into breakfast with gusto, as Nanoha complimented Linith on her cooking, she wished, she _dearly_ wished, that it was all real…

….

Illya scaled up the side of the building, the claws on the tips of her gauntlets ripping into the masonry and pulling her up as swiftly as if she'd flown. The movement was effortless and graceful, and completely at odds with the fact the building was already at a 10 degree angle and falling, as it had been blasted about halfway through and was slowly tipping over. She quickly reached the top and stood balanced on the roof's edge, looking out over the city.

The place had already been faring badly, but Yuuno's arrival had definitely signaled the start of new unpleasantness. The ground was shaking near-constantly again as Reinforce and the second Green Lantern if Sector 2814 exchanged blows, her building just one of many casualties. Not to say she hadn't made her own contributions. She reached into the air and growled, "_Noble Phantasm: Son of Fortune!_"

A shoulder-mounted missile launcher came out of the air as the building reached 30 degrees of tilt, and she took a moment for _Knight of Justice_ to claim it and change it before she took aim and fired. The rocket, now a darkly-glowing Noble Phantasm streaked through the sky, locking onto the Book of Darkness, who was trying to batter through Ferret Lantern's defenses. The multiple, spherically arranged layers of rune-inscribed circular shields weathered the onslaught of 1009 Sagitta Magica as the boy readied his ring to counter attack.

The rocket struck in an explosion of armor-piercing black fire, sending the Book reeling, the clothes she wore gaining a noticeable hole and wounding the flesh beneath. Ferret Lantern took the opening, his ring snapping up in a flare of light as a cloud of darting, explosive spheres nimbly wove through the net of his own defenses and began to pummel the Book relentlessly.

Illya nodded in satisfaction and only then seemed to realize gravity was starting to drop to zero as the building rapidly accelerated past 45 degrees on its inevitable date with the ground. She leapt easily off her perch, her cape catching the air and billowing dramatically behind her as she launched one of the chains around her arms, snagging the ragged edges of the top of another decapitated building.

Yuuno kept up his assault, trying to force the berserk Book of Darkness to the ground where that other Magical Girl could help deal with her. Discs formed from green light, tracing a circle fifty feet wide above and below the book before they activated, the gravity/anti-gravity generators creating a cylinder of 6000 Gs for the few scant moments needed to _almost_ slam the Book into the ground, cutting out just before the moment of impact.

The Book of Darkness-shaped impact crater was quite humorous.

The Book began getting to its feet, but Illya was already on her, fists and feet slamming with brutal efficiency and precision. Mana-fueled limbs struck with literally epic-human force as she attacked unrelentingly.

Dazedly, the Book tried to defend herself, trying to raise a shield or blast something at point-blank range. Illya didn't give her a chance, aiming for crippling strikes— until her fist struck metal.

"_Noble Phantasm: Armor of Darkest Night,"_ the Book intoned as its own armor began to enshroud it, granting it greater protection.

Illya kicked it in its exposed, unarmored face. There was no crack of a nose breaking, but that had obviously rung her bell, and Illya followed through with several further savage jabs.

The Book finally managed to raise a defense, parrying Illya's blows. Seamlessly, Illya darted back, fading into the darkness. The Lost Logia fell into a defensive stance, raising a shield behind her to protect from that direction.

She never saw the giant green mallet slam into her from above.

Yuuno nodded in approval. He was an archaeologist, after all. This wasn't the first time he'd sucker-punched someone who wasn't ready. It was kinda the first time he'd done this with a giant mallet thoug—

With a cry of "**_TRACE, ON!_**", the construct was shattered by a rising pillar of magic swords.

"Oh, that's not good," Yuuno said philosophically, raising his shields against it as some streaked towards him.

Something wrapped around his leg and tugged him roughly out of the way. He yelped as she was roughly pulled down. The swords passed through where he'd been, and his blood ran cold as he got a clear view of them effortlessly _shattering_ both shield spells and constructs alike.

He looked down to see the black-clad figure he'd barely been glimpsing all through the fight hanging from the chain around his leg, pale hair and cape fluttering in the wind.

"**_Hide us!_**" she hissed, and Yuuno felt his skin crawl, his ring sputtering a little at the sudden primal terror the voice evoked, of snakes pouncing and eating poor little mammals in the distant past. "**_Hurry!_**"

That actually wasn't such an imprudent idea, though the delivery could have been better. Hurriedly, Yuuno made a construct around them, blinking them out of sight and out of the way as the Book let loose another wave of spells. He quickly wove a construct for his passenger to stand on, and she dropped lightly onto it, the chain around Yuuno's leg somehow detaching and rewrapping around her arm.

"Who are you?" he asked the obvious.

The dark-armored figure glared at him— though how he could tell with her eyes covered, he had no idea— and he recoiled back in terror, heart thumping like crazy. Wait, what?

The girl pushed up her visor, showing her crimson eyes and face. "It's me, Ferret Lantern! Kaleido Ruby! And really, you have _got _to change your name…

"Ah," he said faintly. "New outfit?"

Glare. Yuuno yelped and wondered what the heck was wrong with him.

"No time for inanities," Illya growled, lowering her visor over her eyes again. "You need to know quick. That thing did something to Nanoha-san and Fate-san. They vanished, but I don't think they died. The matter-energy conversion wasn't violent enough to be a lethal effect. It has them somewhere. We need to get it to release them."

"There might not be enough time," Yuuno said, eyeing the distant ground. Fissures seemed to be opening, glowing with dull, fiery light. "It's already starting to begin its reincarnation cycle. In a little while, it's going the destroy this planet." Yuuno paused. "Though apparently, that's not going to be anything new."

Illya nodded. "If TV has taught us anything, it's that we're always on the brink of doom."

They shared a solemn nod.

"Magical girl anime?" Illya asked.

"Nanoha's sister's magical girl manga," Yuuno said. He glanced about. He'd been increasing their altitude to bring them above the Book's indiscriminate bombardment. "Wow. At this rate there won't be any city left to defend."

Illya paled. "Arf and the girls!"

Yuuno whirled on her. "What?-!"

She told him.

"Oh, poot," he muttered. " Wait, why am I saying poot? Oh, shit."

….

"Why don't we go into town today?" Precia proposed as they strolled through the garden.

"Yeah!" Alicia cried, walking backwards to face her mother. "That sounds like fun!"

"Ah!" Nanoha waffled. "Alicia-chan, watch where you're going!"

Precia looked back at Fate, who walked with her head slightly bowed behind her mother. "After all, Precia said, "I need to buy Fate a new pair of shoes."

Alicia pouted jealously, her cheeks puffing out. "Ah! No fair! It's always about Fate!"

"It's her reward for getting top scores on her test for becoming a full-fledged mage," Linith said. "You need to do your best to catch up to her, Alicia."

"Eh!" Alicia pouted some more. "Fate-chan! I'm counting on you to tutor me until the next exam!"

Fate smiled. "Y-yeah…" she said.

And suddenly, she was crying. They rose up from her, inexorable and would not be denied. This… this was all she'd ever wanted, once. She'd dreamed of it, lying restless at night, staring at nothing. Now it was here… and it was all wrong. It felt so real… how could it be wrong?

How…?

She cried as Precia, Alicia, Arf and Linith gathered around her, asking why she was crying, what was wrong. She couldn't answer them, not with anything that made sense.

Alicia looked sadly up at her sister, suppressing her own tears as she offered what comfort she could. _Oh, Fate-chan… I wish this were real too, imoutou. _

….

_I'm so tired…_

After days of pain, the lack of it was like a drug in itself. Hayate felt her eyes fluttering as she realized her chest no longer hurt, that she could breathe easily.

A tall, pale-haired woman stood before her, vaguely familiar. She had seen her once before. Hayate tried to recall…

"Rest, my mistress," the woman said gently.

_Oh yes, _Hayate thought fuzzily._ I know her. She is the Book of Darkness… _

_"_Close you eyes and sleep."

_I spoke to her like this, once… in another dream…_

"Dream beautiful dreams… for us both_…"_

_It was in one of the Sound Stages if I remember right… oh look, Fourth Wall Breaking… I must REALLY be out of it…_

She closed her eyes again.

"There. It will all be over soon. One way or another…"

….

The Book of Darkness was gaining the upper hand again.

Yuuno kept the green quadruple Gatling guns strapped to each arm leveled, their triggers depressed as they spun faster than the eye could see, send hundreds of construct bullets per second flying at the Book as he flew backwards, trying to stay out of its range. They slammed into the Silence Wall it maintained before it as it pursued, the bullets bouncing off the invisible barrier as it flew at Yuuno relentlessly, charging up another spell.

"_Atem des Eis,"_ it intoned, several head-sized glowing cubes coming into existence around it before they leapt at Yuuno.

"Ring!" Yuuno cried even as he called his shields into being. "Auto-target and shoot down!"

The guns moved in his hands, directing their fire at the cubes streaking towards him. Two erupted in a burst of cold, taking down three more in a block-wide explosion of ice, but several more flew at him. He threw his shields in their way, their impacts detonating the spells, even as he increased his speed to evade.

The Book of Darkness gathered its power, but before the air above her warped and rippled, and Illya came out of the darkness, her cape spread like wings and slammed into the Book with both feet. The Book was sent reeling, the crimson lines on its clothes and skin pulsing. Illya managed several more blows before a growl of Exarmatio sent her cape flying. Unfortunately, it was still attached to Illya's neck. Her armor shuddered, but didn't fly to pieces at the spell.

The Book turned in time to raise another Silent Wall to block the swarm of chainsaws burning with fusion plasma Yuuno hurled at it. Yuuno swore, then swore again as the Book let loose a _Schwalbe Schwarm. _Yuuno barely managed to raise his own defense against the veritable storm of metal balls. _We need a new plan,_ he sent to Illya.

**_"We need more cover,_**" Illya sent back. "**_We're running out of city. Arf and the girls are running out of places to hide. We need to change tactics. We need a trap, something to keep it contained, controlled._**"

_I… think I might have something… um, excuse me, I need to stop her from taking my head off–_

_"Schwarze Wirkung!"_

….

Hayate struggled to wake. It was so difficult. It was like every lazy morning she'd ever had in her life had decided to gang up on her at the same time, overwhelming her with drowsiness, a cofortable bed, and the soft, cuddly feeling of Vita in her arms. She persevered through it. There _was_ no Vita in her arms. Such a lie meant someone would pay!

Someone put a hand on hers. "No mistress…" a soft, familair voice said. "Go to sleep. It's better that way…"

Some part of Hayate wondered if that wasn't such a bad idea, but she persevered. No girl manages to get _Signum_ to put on a skirt and act maternal by being a pushover. She forced her eyes to flutter open, despite a deep urge to weld them shut and dream really dirty dreams.

The silver-haired woman knelt before her, the spirit of the Book. And she'd been crying.

"Please mistress…" she begged. "Sleep. Your dreams will be peaceful. Let me give you that much. It is _all_ I can give you…"

Hayate stared, confused. Flickers of knowledge began assembling themselves in her head, pieces she'd vaguely glimpsed amidst dreams, growing more coherent now.

"I can't forgive myself for being the one who's killing you," the spirit said. Her fingers on Hayate's hand shivered, clenched. "I can't stop my power from going out of control yet again… I can't stop it from devouring your body… I can't stop the you outside that's going out of control, trying to hurt your friends…I cannot stop this dark taint that has been hidden within me so long from corrupting us as it corrupted the knights… " The spirit bowed its head in shame.

Hayate stared, trying to understand. "When… when the true awakening happened, I gained some insight into what's been going on… you've been sad and lonely for so long."

The spirit smiled ironically. "I had my duty. It was enough."

Her eyes were haunted with infinite sadness and horror.

….

Illya ran between some bookshelves of the geometric migraine that Yuuno said was a perfect replica of some place called the Infinity Library. A green glow came from everywhere, rendering her Noble Phantasm-given ability to fade into darkness and shadow useless. Her _Mantle of the Darkest Knight_ inert, she was staying out of direct line of sight.

"_Iaiken!" _

There was a rumble as several construct walls of bookshelves were blasted apart, only to reform almost instantly. There was no effort or support in the constructs except to maintain their existence, no attempt at much solidity, meaning them getting destroyed cost Yuuno nothing and allowed him to quickly rebuild. Their purpose wasn't to imprison or really contain the Book, it was to disorient it and keep it relatively blind. Yuuno was subtly manipulating gravity and the spin of his giant construct to keep the Book pointed _away_ from Arf and the girls so no stray spells struck. That left Illya with the task of attacking, using the masses of reconstructing shelves and twisted, non-traditional architecture as cover.

Her cape flew behind her like a manner as she leapt to the top of a shelf, grabbing a 'book' from it– "The Seven Firearms of Highly Effective Archaeologists"– and throwing it into the empty space in front of her. It flew up for longer than it should have– another gravity deadszone– and Illya threw one of her arm-chains through the patch, feeling it catch onto a pylon and letting her reel herself upwards as she drew a several curved metal blades from her belt. She hit the deadzone and turned, seeing an opening through the shelves, the Book outlined almost dead center of th opening, and threw. The blades spun, flying through and slamming int othe Book's side, exploding on contact.

The Book turned to retaliate, but Illya was already gone, lost amidst the shelves, bizaarchetecture, and optical illusions. The Book's attack tore throug the deadzone, and everything behind it, for a moment revealing the devastated skyline of the inside of the barrier. Then it was gone again, the construct rebuilding almost instantly. The Book's cry of frustration echoed through theshelves.

Illya decided she like the sound of screams of frustration coming from people trying to kill her.

Suddenly, the whole construct shook slightly. Illya raised a hand to the base of one of her helm's horns, tapped a green dot. "**_Green Lantern?_**"

"_GAH!_" came the shrill reply. "_Don't do that! You nearly gave me a heart attack!_"

"**_What was that shake?_**"

"_It wasn't me or the Book… hang on…_" A pause. "_I'm picking up dimensional stress! It's disrupting the barrier slightly, which is what you felt. I think the Book's starting its self-destruct cycle!_" Another beat. "_The Asura confrms my readings! We're running out of time–_"

_"_**_Gather, light of the stars!_**

Illya jerked her head up, and she heard Yuuno do the same. "Oh, shit…" they chorused.

**"_I summon the light of destruction down upon my prisoners. Stars, gather, and become the light which pierces everything."_**

Illya turned and started running for the closest edge of the construct, seeking open air.

**_ "Tear through everything in a blaze of light!"_**

"_RUN!_"Yuuno cried.

"**_Starlight Breaker EX!_**"

The construct exploded in a blaze of pink, the magic tearing through the weak light and crying for the sky. The blast wave took her from behind, sending her flying through several deteriorating walls, her night-black armor managing to protect her. Then she was out of range, falling towards the ground head-first.

Blearily, she tried to use her Mantle to teleport to somewhere safer, but it was still too bright. There was nothing to throw her chains at, no more buildings below them. Gritting her teeth, she determinedly pressed the green button Yuuno had put on her helm as she fell head-first to the ground. "**_Illya to Yuuno-san. I need air support. Since I can't fly just now. At all._**"

The pink beam struck the barrier, and it shattered, reality rushing back in its place.

The top of a building appeared over Illya's head, fifty feet away. She calmly pressed the button again. "**_Now would be nice._**"

The building rushed at her head…

There was a crack of thunder and a brilliant golden flash.

Illya blinked as she found herself being cradled bridal-style by a masked, glowing boy about her age, his long hair trailing behind him like a kite's tail as he landed lightly and set her on her feet. "Are you al right miss?" he asked, smiling at her.

Some things are beyond the ability of even powerful Noble Phantasms to protect from. Illya found herself blushing at that smile. "Um, yeah, I'm fine, thank you," she nearly– didn't, but _nearly_– stammered out.

"_ONEE-CHAN!_"

Illya found herself getting tackled from behind by her enthusiastic sister. "K-kuro?"

"Don't **_EVER_** do that again!" Kuro cried. Then she slammed her lips onto Illya's.

Illya found her self blushing even deeper as Kuro, without any preamble, stuck her tongue into Illya's mouth. Negi's entire face grew red, and he looked away, deeply embarrassed.

The ground shook.

Illya panted, and pushed herself away from Kuro unsteadily. "W-what did you d-do…?" she panted. "It couldn't have been _that_ goo– er, that is…"

Kuro sniffed. "Gee, thanks," she said. "Way to insult my technique."

_"__Gefängnis der Magie!"_

The world pulsed again, becoming seen seemingly through a film of oil on water again as a barrier was raised once more. Illya only then became aware of a roaring above her. She looked up and stared. "Isn't that… from mom's movie?"

It was a sleek, triangular vessel, made of gold and precious stones, shinning like the sun. And on it and around it stood and floated… "_MINNA-SAN!_"

A shining emerald light was falling from the remains of the gigantic library construct, and already several girls riding flying manta rays were heading to catch and intercept Yuuno. People leapt from the deck of the _Vimana_, landing on the buildings around them, the white-clad forms of the Senshi, the more esoteric wear of Ala Alba, the rather disturbingly skin-tight, fetishy clothes of the Servants, the off-the-rack garb of her fellow Magi, even her Onii-chan wearing that replica of Archer's outfit. Behind the _Vimana_ hovered a black helicopter, bristling with weaponry.

It was Sakura who'd cast the spell, Rin's sister Sakura, floating above them all, clad in the black of the Noble Phantasm Armor of Darkest Night, a dark purple triangular glyph glowing beneath her. "Book of Darkness!" she cried. "For putting innocents in danger!"

"For threatening our world!" Eternal Sailor Moon cried.

"For making me miss my sitcoms!" the red-headed sword-wielding Ala Alba cried. There were several hisses of outrage from the Senshi. Sailor Mercury sighed.

"_WE WILL PUNISH YOU, IN THE NAME OF ALL MAHOU SHOUJO!_"

Illya stared… and facepalmed.

"You couldn't think of anything better to punish her in the name of?" she said.

Kuro shrugged. "I wanted 'For the Loli', but I was outvoted."

….

"Ah…!" Nanoha sighed lazily, a blissfully contented look on her face as she lay like a boneless slug under the tree. "This feels _soooo_ good…!"

Fate giggled at her, leaning back against the tree as they enjoyed the breeze of the nice, warm, cloudless, sunny–

Thunder rolled.

"Huh?" Alicia said, looking up from her book. She scrambled to her feet. "It looks like a storm's coming! Fate, let's go back."

Fate said nothing, just staring at the darkening clouds above that had certainly _NOT_ been there a moment before, her legs tucked beneath her.

"Fate!"

Fate roused herself. "I'm sorry, Alicia… I'm going to stay here a little longer."

Alicia tiled her head. "Really?" Then she broke into a smile, rushing next to Fate under the tree. "Then I'll stay, too! Together with you… taking shelter from the rain."

Next to them, Nanoha began to snore.

Fate just stared at the ground as rain began to fall. For a long time, there was only the sound of the rain and Nanoha's snoring. Hesitantly, Fate dragged her friends head onto her lap so she wouldn't get water down her nose and choke.

"Hey, Alicia–" Fate began softly.

"Alicia-_neechan!_" Alicia corrected, a tad primly.

Fate found herself smiling. "Alicia-nee-chan… This is just a dream, isn't it?"

Alicia said nothing. Fate bowed her head.

"The two of us don't belong in the same world…" Fate said softly. "If you were still alive, I wouldn't have been born."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Alicia said, smiling. "I bugged mother a lot about getting a little sister. I'd like to think that, when that little sister came, it would have been you…"

Despite herself, Fate chuckled. She had faint copies of memories of Alicia doing exactly that, of a birthday where Alicia told her mother she wanted a little sister. She tried to push it down, but it wouldn't go. "Mother was never this kind to me… not in a long time…"

Alicia looked down. "She was a very kind person…" she said quietly. "Because she was so kind, she broke… loss can do strange things to a soul. "

Another long moment passed in silence.

"I need to go," Fate said, and the admission was like a weight.

Alicia's face became weary, but she nodded. "Yes," she said. "You need to stop the Book of Darkness. You have… a duty."

Fate looked sideways at her, surprised. "I… wouldn't put it like that…"

"Never the less," Alicia said, and you can't argue with 'never the less'. "Your friends need you to fight for them."

Fate nodded, eyes studying Alicia now. "Alicia…?"

Alicia just smiled, seemingly ignoring her scrutiny, and reached into a pocket of her vivid green dress. "You'll be needing these, then," she said, holding out her hand.

In her palm lay Bardiche, Raging Heart and Nanoha's Green Lantern Ring. Fate stared.

"I wished you could stay here longer," Alicia said, staring at the items in her hand. "I wished we could steal a few more moments together, little sister… but time moves on, and you're needed by the people who love you."

She held them out. Hesitantly, Fate picked up Bardiche, who flickered to life. _"Ready, sir," _it said.

Alicia took Fate's other hand and placed Nanoha's weapons in it. "You won't be able to leave easily," Alicia said. "Besides the original problems with it, the Tome of the Night Sky has been corrupted by the taint of the 4th Holy Grail that was sealed into it ten years ago when the seal was broken in Mahora, allowing the taint to escape."

Fate blinked in surprise. "What?"

Alicia smiled. "I'm helping you, silly. It gives me a excuse to be with you a little longer." Her smile took on an ironic cast. "Consider it ten years of big-sisterly love and advice being made up for. Wake your friend and follow me. I'll lead you to the Mistress of the Tome. She is your best chance of escape."

Fate stared. Alicia rolled her eyes and bonked Fate on the head lovingly. "Move it, silly. We don't have much time!"

Shaking herself, Fate knelt next to Nanoha and shook her gently. Nanoha let out a groan, and turned over, one hand feeling around for a blanket to pull over her head.

Alicia reached into a pocket of her green dress and helpfully pulled out a cell phone. Fate took it, flipped it open, set the alarm, and placed it more than arms length away from Nanoha's head. It began to ring annoyingly. Nanoha began flailing around for it. When her hand touched nothing, she grudgingly opened an eye.

Fate smiled down at her. "Time to wake up, Nanoha-chan," the blonde said gently.

Nanoa stared at her blearily for a moment… then her eyes snapped open wide, and she jerked upright. "Hayate-chan!" she cried! Yuuno! Illya! The Book!"

Fate put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Nanoha shook her head hard. "Did we… did we actually eat breakfast with _her?_"

Fate nodded. Nanoha shuddered. "That was the most distrubing experience in my life," the Green Lantern muttered, getting to her feet. Fate held out her hand, holding Raging Heart and the ring, and Nanoha stared, patting at her left hand to confirm before putting her ring back on. "Where are we?"

"Within the Tome of the Night Sky," Alicia said. "Inside a capture space it created to house you."

Nanoha nodded at Fate in understanding. "We need to find a way out. Ring-chan, Raging Heart, can either of you– "

"There's no need, Nanoha-chan," Fate said. "I know what to do."

Nanoha blinked. "You do?"

Fate nodded, glancing at Alicia. "We need to find Hayate. She's trapped in here with us, but she has administrator powers over the Book of Darkness, so she's our best chance to get out." Alicia nodded in agreement, smiling approvingly. She waved at Fate to follow her and started walking, backin the direction of the house.

Fate followed, turning back to look at Nanoha. "Come on! Time's running out!"

"Um, okay?" Nanoha said, a green umbrella unfurling above her and Fate as she jogged to keep up…

….

Arf, Alicia and Suzuka exchanged looks.

"The world hates us," Arf grumbled.

"At least we have cover again," Suzuka pointed out, looking for the bright side.

"Oh, goody," Alisa said. "More running."

They all sighed.

….

**- To be continued…**

….

A/N: Yes, I am aware there is a limit to how many Noble Phantasms a hero can have at the same time. It's BERSERKER! He's a damn sight better than Perseus. He can do it.

Please review, C&C welcome. Also please check out the TvTropes page and the Wiki.

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	27. The Queen of the Night Sky!

A/N: yes, it's been a while. I know. Maybe if people reviewed more…

JOIN THE NEGIMA FANFICTION THREAD AND THE 2814 DISCUSSION THREAD ON TVTROPES, WE'RE REALLY, REALLY BORED!

Also, please leave lots of reviews. And answer the poll on my user page. And wiki magic the TvTropes Page. Please?

...

Takamachi Nanoha of 2814

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 27: She Comes! She Comes! The Queen of the Night Sky!

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story. If I did… well, this would all be canon. WARNING: MAY CAUSE HEAD EXPLOSION!

...

_24/12- Earlier_

Chibi-Usa— though not so chibi anymore— had, for old time's sake, competed with her mother over who could finish off three Chocolate Overkill Omnicides before making excuses to go to the bathroom.

"Yup, she's gone," Setsuna confirmed half an hour later. "I didn't pick up anything, so it's likely she just teleported out instead of going back to the future."

Usagi scowled. "That brat! She stuck us with the bill for her ice-cream!"

"She learned her lessons well," Rei said snidely. Usagi gave her an evil look.

Gilgamesh was still trying to wrap his head around Chibi-Usa's command. "I'm supposed to associate with _common mongrels?"_ he repeated yet again. "That's… that's…"

"Careful," Mamoru reminded mildly. "_I'm_ a 'common mongrel'."

"With all due respect your Majesty, no," Gilgamesh said. "You are the King of Earth, and proper wielder of its might."

"Hmm…" Mamoru hummed thoughtfully. "Then if I can put up with it, so can you."

Gilgamesh twitched. "I was afraid you'd say that…" he muttered. "Gah! If your Majesty can endure it, then so must I!"

"It's not exactly something that needs to be endured," Mamoru said, fighting not to smile. "I barely even notice it."

"Besides, Gil-kun," Usagi said, ignoring Gilgamesh's twitch-and-start at the overly-familiar designation. "You told us you were summoned ten years ago! Shouldn't you be used to people by now?"

"I was busy," he muttered, not looking at her.

"Doing what?" she asked guilelessly.

At this point, the universe decided to give him a break.

An indistinct beeping sound filled the air. Everyone but Gilgamesh checked their gadgets.

"Mine," Ami said, and everyone settled down. She pulled up the Mercury Computer, and stiffened. "Oh dear. It's time."

"Oh, Trope-tan Organization the TV already?" Minako asked. She pointed dramatically. "To my house!"

"It's a message from the TSAB from Green Lantern-chan," Ami said.

"Who?" Usagi asked.

"The space wizards."

"Oh! Got it."

"It says she's found the Wolkenritter and their Mistress and needs backup," Ami read.

Haruka's hand tightened on the table's edge. The wood creaked. "Where?" she growled.

Michiru, Hotaru and Setsuna exchanged looks. "Haruka dear," Michiru said sweetly. "You wouldn't happen to be planning to get back at the Wolkenritter for how they took our… Linker Cores, was it?"

"We are perfectly capable of getting back at them ourselves," Setsuna said.

Hotaru nodded. "We can do our own ass kicking."

Haruka pouted at them, then turned to Mamoru. "Is this what it's like to be you _all the time?_" she asked.

"Welcome to my world," Mamoru said.

Usagi blinked in confusion. "Huh?"

Ami coughed. "So, are we going or what?"

Usagi stood up and pointed dramatically. There was a lot of that going on. "Minna-san! Henshin!"

"Hai!" the Senshi all chorused and ran out the door.

As everyone in the ice-cream parlor blinked at them, Mamoru languidly raised a hand. "Check please."

Gilgamesh stared flatly at the door the Senshi had left through, then glared at the other customers. "And these mongrels don't see anything suspicious in that?"

"Usagi just ate three Chocolate Overkill Omnicides," Mamoru said as he paid.

Gilgamesh gave that some thought. "Ah. Understandable." He glanced at the door again. "Should we hurry after them?"

"No, they'll remember they have no idea how to get to Uminari on their own eventually."

...

Tokyo's population is huge, and while it's not exactly as cramped as people think it is, it's still pretty hard for eleven people to find some place to transform without being seen.

"Gah!" Rei growled half an hour later. "How's a Magical Girl supposed to find a place to change around here?-!"

"Well, it IS the dinner rush," Ami pointed out. "Even the toilets are full."

"What we need is a convenient distraction…" Haruka mused.

Makoto recoiled, crossing her hands over her chest protectively. "You're not pouring water on my blouse again, Haruka!"

"Curses. Foiled again," Haruka said blandly.

Gilgamesh tilted his head, turning to stare into an alley. "Invaders…" he hissed.

Mamoru quirked an eyebrow, peering into the alley. It didn't seem like anything special. "You sure?"

"Yes," Gilgamesh said distastefully, then seemed to remember himself. "I mean, yes, your Majesty. I beg forgiveness for my impertinence."

Mamoru sighed. "Oh, this will take a while… your brother was like this too…"

Gilgamesh twitched slightly at those words. "Shall I dispose of the Invaders, your Majesty?"

Mamoru paused thoughtfully. "Actually… yes."

...

The sight of monsters getting their asses kicked wasn't unknown to Juuban, though said monsters tended to be shapely, pseudo-feminine things— which had led to a small fetishist community that most other nerds and otaku put down there only a few notches above furry fetishists, Twilight fans and Ishihara, mainly because some youma actually WERE hot, and the cute star-eyed one who worked at the restaurant not far from the Hino shrine was actually quite a nice girl who Sailor Mars sometimes came to visit— rather than briefcase-toting zombies who looked like salarymen from hell. People at least knew enough to run for at least a block and not enter any buildings when this happened.

The guy in gold armor was new though.

"Vile, disgusting pustule on this already blistered, gangrenous athlete's foot of a species! You defame humanity's already pathetic level with your odious existence! As the king of— er, that is, as the faithful vassal of the future king of this wretched, pathetic world, I execute you, IN THE NAME OF ENDYMION! _Noble Phantasm:_ _Gate of Babylon!_"

As prototype Noble Phantasms lashed out at the hapless Invaders, Mamoru sweatdropped. "He'll… need some work," he said, before transforming with the others. No one was watching _now_…

Haruka rolled her eyes. "Oh, admit it. You're getting an ego rush from this."

Tuxedo Kamen thought about this and raised a hand, thumb and forefinger about an inch apart.

They all leapt up to the building they had agreed would be the meeting point, and even from all the way up there, they could hear Gilgamesh exclaiming.

"Be thankful, you pathetic wretches, to His Majesty Endymion for this rescue of your pathetic lives! That he would deign to send you any form of aid is infinitely more than you deserve! Pay tribute to him and— what do you specks think you are doing? Are you SHOOTING at me? You DARE point your pathetic, mass-produced, soulless weapons at my noble personage? I will—"

Tuxedo Kamen facepalmed. "Be right back," he said, jumping back down as the girls giggled.

There was a yelp along the lines of "My ear, my ear!" and Tuxedo Kamen crying, "We're reforming him, I'm sorry if he said anything, well, bye!" and a few moments later, the guys were back on the roof, one gloved hand tugging on one padlock-sized earring on one ear.

"For future reference, Gilgamesh-kun, while your distraction was more than adequate, we don't call the people we're trying to protect things like 'pathetic' and the like. Such name-calling is usually a hallmark of our enemies, which is why those police officers thought you were evil," Tuxedo Kamen lectured.

As Gilgamesh opened his mouth to retort, Tuxedo Kamen raised a hand. "And I don't care if you think they're just commoners. We've had this conversation before already. Now, Chibi-Usa said you had a way of getting us around?"

Gilgamesh grimaced at the interruption, clearly unused to it, but bowed, fist bumping the chest of his golden armor. "I live to serve, you Majesty," he said, and raised his hand. "_Noble Phantasm: Gate of Babylon!"_

The air behind him rippled, becoming slightly hazy, and from it drifted out an enormous vehicle, shining gold and emerald in the light of the setting sun. Beneath it spread emerald wings like a butterfly, shining with an aura of power. The Senshi all stared. Sailor Uranus started salivating at the sight.

"Feast your eyes upon my treasure, the Vimana!" Gilgamesh proclaimed proudly. "Fueled by quicksilver and the sun, it travels at the speed of thought, able to break the laws of physics themse—"

"It's a stripped down Vyma-class scout flier, conspicuously missing the safety canopy," Sailor Uranus said, sounding partly in a trance. "The standard pilot seat's been replaced, and the weapon mounts have been stripped, but its engines have been modified, and augmented by additional thrusters." Her knees were shaking, and there was a nearly carnal hunger in her voice.

Sailor Neptune gave her a piercing look.

Gilgamesh, meanwhile, was looking quite put upon for having his speech interrupted. A lesser man would have been pouting. "Er… yes… well…"

Tuxedo Kamen came up behind Gilgamesh. "Did you do that? The modifications?"

"Kings do not toil as menials," Gilgamesh snapped out of reflex, though he looked self-conscious, and there was a different note to his pride. It was not the pride of possession— not just— but the pride of accomplishment.

Tuxedo Kamen rolled his eyes. "Hmm… I seem to remember legends of you building city walls…" He looked up at the hovering Vimana. "Permission to come aboard, captain?"

Gilgamesh bowed. "My treasure is at your service, your Majesty…" He straightened. "Where do we fly?"

Tuxedo Kamen looked out into the horizon. "Mahora Academy."

"Can I drive?" Sailor Uranus asked.

"_**NO!**_"

...

_24/12 - Mahora_

"Look Mercury, it's perfectly simple," Chisame was saying into her computer with strained patience. "There's a REALLY big tree here. Under it is a stage. That's where we're waiting for you guys to pick us up."

She listened for a while, then said, "No, I'm being VERY specific! A big tree! There is no way you will NOT see it!"

"And so Chisame finds a whole new way to lose it," Haruna commented as she and the others stood a little distance away, lest they be caught in the ensuing fallout. The sky was turning purple as the sun touched the horizon, and already the lights of Mahora can come on, highlighting it's european architecture. In the area of the stage, however, all was dark, the lights distant, the closest sources the floodlights that highlighted the World Tree.

"Are you guys sure we shouldn't come along?" Yuuna said, standing with Makie, Misora, Kazumi, Natsumi, Ako, and Akira, twirling her Artifacts.

Negi nodded. "I know you girls want to help, but you haven't trained enough for something like this. I'll be able to rest easier not having to worry about you."

Misora raised hands, smiling widely. "Hey, fine with me. I don't want to risk dying the day before the dance anyway. I'm sure you guys can save the world on your own. Again."

"Coward," Yuuna said.

"Guilty," Misora chirped happily.

"I still think it's HORRIBLY unfair Nodoka gets to go and I don't," Makie pouted.

"Hey, she's Eva-qualified," Asuna said. She looked sideways at Nodoka, who was adjusting her white hood. "Besides, if we don't let her, she's just going to pop out of a bush next to the enemy and ask them their name anyway."

"I only did that once!" Nodoka protested as the others chuckled. "Once!"

"Can't Ako just give us a shot in the butt?" Yuuna asked.

The others staying behind looked at each other.

"Well, I suppose I need to train more," Makie said.

"Wouldn't want to over-use my Artifact," Ako coughed. "Might be bad."

"I get enough attempts to stick something in my butt already," Natsumi shivered.

Haruna grinned at Kotaro. "Aw, I didn't know you were into THAT sort of thing. Dawg!"

Kotaro blinked at her in confusion, then turned to a blushing Natsumi, who was fussily wrapping a white scarf around his neck, Kamen Rider style. "She's saying we're doing something dirty, isn't she?"

Natsumi, glaring at Haruna, nodded.

"But we're not?" Kotaro continued.

Natsumi's blush deepened. "No," she said.

Haruna huffed. "Oh, you're no fun."

Setsuna, meanwhile, was futilely trying to convince Konoka to stay behind. "Please be reasonable, Oujo-sama! I'm sure we'll be fine if you stay behind."

Konoka flounced huffily. She didn't usually do that, but she'd been meaning to try since she'd read the phrase last night. "Oh, Set-chan, it'll be all right. If Nodoka can go, I don't see why I can't."

"Oujo-sama!" Setsuna practically whined in protest. "Be reasonable!"

"Now, now, Set-chan, I'm just making things easy on you," Konoka said, adjusting Setsuna's nekomimi. "How will you protect me if I'm not there?"

"There's all _sorts_ of things wrong with that logic," Yue muttered, straightening out her helmet.

"Look, IT'S A REALLY BIG TREE!" Chisame was yelling. "Yes, the one from the brochures! Yes, it's really big! LOOK, JUST LOOK FOR IT, OKAY!"

With a growl, Chisame slapped her laptop closed, making her sprites wince. "Chisama-sama is angry!" they moaned.

"Oh, shut up," she muttered. She gave Negi a sideways glare. "I'm not coming with you guys, okay?"

"I understand, Chisame-san," Negi said, pulling his gloves up his forearms. They glowed, helping him control his Magia Erebea. While having it as part of him made things easier, it put a horrific drain on his magic, and in a fight he couldn't spare the concentration to keep it in check, and while he no longer risked becoming consumed by the technique, going berserk was still a very real danger. He'd already done the experiment that proved he lost his regeneration if his magic dipped too low, and was not eager to repeat the experience. "I know you'd help if you could, but in a fight like this, it's better you stay back."

"Don't worry, Chisame-san," Chachamaru said softly, adjusting the new sensor array Hakase had made her, which coincidentally also doubled as a mask for her whole face, with an emitter to reroute her eye beams through. "We will make sure no one is harmed. Everything will be for the best."

Chisame sniffed tsunderely. "'Not worry', she says," the hacker muttered. "'For the best'. You know, it's weird _you're_ the one making assurances like that. Sci-fi robotic conventions are taking a beating. Whatever happened to 'this does not compute, illogical'!-?"

Chachamaru never lost her reassuring smile. "Sometimes, a little faith is needed. The world does not run on computations and logic."

Chisame sighed. "Faith… Asimov was _dead_ wrong…"

"I think the sides of this conversation got switched somehow…" Yue said, smiling slightly.

Ku sighed. "Eh! More big words-aru! Always with the philosophical talky-aru!"

"Now, Ku, while we might be satisfied with being Baka Rangers, you know not everyone thinks that way," Kaede chided, her Artifact tied around her neck, part of it pulled up over her mouth to act as a mask, her Identity Obfuscation Glasses glinting.

Ku huffed. "Get to fight scene bits already-aru!"

Chachamaru perked up, tilting her head. "Detecting sub-audible, sustained aerial disruption," she said. "87 percent probability of sonic boom." Her antennae unfolded, revealing an array of sensor rods. "Aerial vehicle detected, closing in fast. ETA, 37 seconds."

Chisame's laptop pinged. She didn't even bothering opening it, instead drawing her Artifact. "Yes, THAT tree!" she snapped at nothing in particular before making a curt severing gesture.

Soon a roaring sound cut through the air, a sustained crack that was quite obviously some kind of sonic boom. Something flew over the city at an appreciable factor above the speed of sound, the sonic boom making some people jump.

"There!" Yuuna cried, pointing as her sharp eyes made out the source. The golden vehicle was banking with physics-defying speed (the particular parts of physics that said a vehicle that size turning like that should be so much spare parts tumbling through the air, never mind anyone on it), making an absurdly tight turn to bring it back towards the World Tree.

"Ooh, pretty!" Makie, Konoka and Negi declared, eyes sparkling.

Chisame sighed. "Saviors of Mundus Magicus my callipygian backside," she muttered.

The golden vehicle slowed considerably as it approached the World Tree, circling it a few times before it once more banked sharply and made a beeline for the stage where Ala Alba stood. The wind rose, though no engine of any sort seemed to be present to cause that effect.

Figures stood upon the vehicle, many in white, one in black, another in gold. With a cry, the Sailor Senshi leapt off, falling to earth.

"GROUND!" Sailor Jupiter cried, kneeling and hugging the floor. "Sweet, sweet ground! Non-moving ground! I'll never leave you again! I love you! You look like my old sempai!"

"Infernal machine!" Sailor Venus agreed. "Bad relic from the Silver Millennium! Bad! Bad!"

"Why didn't we teleport?" Sailor Mars whimpered. "Oh _**WHY**_ didn't we teleport?-!-?-!-?-!"

"I need to hurl…" Sailor Mercury said, looking green. "I thought we were going to die! Again!"

"I need a drink," Sailor Pluto said, looking near tears.

"I am never getting on another vehicle for as long as I live," Sailor Neptune muttered, on her knees.

"WHEE!" Sailor Moon and Saturn cried. "That was fun! Do it again!"

"I wanna drive next!" Sailor Uranus said.

"_**HELL NO!-!-!-!-!-!**_" the other Senshi chorused.

Ala Alba looked down at the Senshi on the ground, then up at the golden vehicle, where Tuxedo Kamen was sitting on the edge with his legs swinging over the side, then back again.

"On second thought, I really need to get a date for tomorrow's dance…" Yuuna hedged, backing away.

"…meeple…" Ako meepled.

"Oujo-sama, perhaps you should—" Setsuna tried again.

"Can I ride in front?-!" Konoka called excitedly. Setsuna sighed.

"This is SO unfair!" Makie whined. "I wanna get to ride the plane too!"

Above them, the figure in golden armor glared down, arm crossed arrogantly. "Them? These… _children_… are to fight with us, you Majesty?"

"HEY!" Asuna cried, glaring at him trough her mask. "Who are you calling children?-! I'll have you know I'm older than _you_ are!"

Nodoka bowed. "H-hello again, Gilgamesh-sama. Remember us?"

He turned his gaze at her, and she wilted slightly before swallowing and straightening, meeting his eye. "Ah, yes, the book children. I am surprised to see you managed to survive the battle after I was untimely summoned away."

Ku, Yue and Haruna all glared at him, clearly remembering as well.

"Gilgamesh," Tuxedo Kamen said mildly. "Be nice. They're on our side." He nodded at Negi. "Is this everyone?"

Negi nodded, eyeing the _Vimana_. "Though I have no idea how we're going to get everyone to fit."

Kaede coughed, holding out her Artifact like a cape. "I believe I have the solution to that, sensei…"

...

Sailor Neptune knelt next to the low wooden table and sighed in contentment. "Ah! This is quite good tea… er, sorry, how should I refer to you again, gynoid-san?"

"I do not have an official moniker designation just yet," Chachamaru said, kneeling opposite the table next to the tea pot. "Karakuri-san will do."

"Then I commend you on your excellent tea, Karakuri-san," Sailor Neptune said, before taking another sip.

"May I have another?" Sailor Mercury asked.

"Me too please," Nodoka said. Setsuna and Ku also held out their cups.

Around them, most of the Senshi were sitting around with most of Ala Alba. On the edge of the wooden floor of the house, her legs swining back and forth, Konoka sulked at not being allowed to ride outside on the _Vimana_ proper. The rest were more relieved.

"This is pretty handy," Sailor Venus commented, chewing on a stick of strawberry Pocky as she looked out over the view, such as it was. The horizon showed an idllic countryside that was completely illusory, since the inside of the Artifact only extended up to the wall of the property. That was still a lot of square footage though, and the house built on it was nice by most standards, and cozy by the rest. "When I became a Senshi, all I got was this outfit! Even Mercury-chan only got a computer."

"I know we have a pen that can disguise us," Sailor Mercury said. "I wonder what happened to it?"

"In the back of one of Moon's drawers, probably," Sailor Mars said. She'd taken off her red heels and was rubbing her feet.

"Sounds weak," Haruna said, idly sketching sauropods.

"I'll have you know it's very useful!" Sailor Venus declared.

Haruna raised an eyebrow at her.

"…" Sailor Venus sighed. "Yeah, it's pretty weak. But it was fun when we first got it!"

"I wonder how long before we reach our destination?" Asuna said, having temporarily changed out of her armor into one of Evangeline's prescribed loligoth garb. It was much more comfortable for sitting on the floor in. "Fuyuki and Uminari are pretty far from Mahora."

"Not at the speeds this thing is going," Sailor Pluto said, lying down on a futon with a towel over her eyes. "We'll be there in half an hour or so. An hour, tops."

"Can't you tell for sure?" Sailor Venus said. "I mean, can't you use your powers to see the future and time exactly when we get there so we arrive right in the nick of time?"

"I think you have me confused with someone else," Sailor Pluto said, raising a corner of her towel to eye the blonde. "I can barely tell we've got a new enemy coming our way until they're almost right on top of us, and that was when I wasn't twitchy from being on the wagon. I didn't see these Wolkenritter at all, remember. If my powers were that good, I'd be winning the lottery every week ."

Sailor Venus sighed. "Well, there goes that plan. I SO wanted to win the lottery!"

"Eat your Pocky, Venus," Sailor Pluto said, closing her eyes again.

Konoka sighed, watching an illusory cloud float overhead. "I wonder what Erebus-kun is doing…"

...

The _Vimana_ did not fly at the speed of thought. This was a cross of a gross exaggeration and a misnomer. While equipped with manual controls, its standard control methodology was via a telepathic interface. So, yes, it kinda flew at the speed of thought, or at least was piloted to fly at them. It was still, however, frickin' fast.

"WHEE!" Negi, Sailor Moon, Sailor Saturn, Sailor Uranus and Kotaro all cried, their faces to the wind. "Faster! Faster!"

The Vimana didn't have much of a railing, barely a raised lip on the edge of the platform, but the five hung on to them tenaciously, childishly glee on their face. Nearer the back, in the lee of the raised control column, Tuxedo Kamen and Kaede were holding on to the relative security of the chain she'd wrapped around it, their scarf and cape flapping in the wind almost in Gilgamesh's face where he sat on the pilot throne. The once-Servant was muttering darkly about his divine treasure being used as a children's play wagon. Behind them, the sustained sonic boom they left was left in the dust, their wake making clouds writhe and billow in a line behind them.

"They seem to be enjoying themselves!" Kaede cried, voice barely audible over the roar.

Tuxedo Kamen grinned, nodding. His top hat resolutely remained on his head despite the wind, surely a Divine Mystery in itself. "It's always nice to see Sailor Saturn acting her age! She gets so serious sometimes!"

"The same is true of Erebus-kun!" Kaede cried back. "Why, I remember—"

Sailor Saturn suddenly gave a cry of surprise as her transformation unravelled around her in a burst of purple. She gasped at the sudden cold, losing her balance, no longer protected by her magic. It just seemed to have been… switched off.

"Saturn!" Sailor Uranus cried, and suddenly she was in her papa's strong, sure arms, shielding her from the wind. "What happened?"

"I…" Hotaru, just plain Hotaru, said in confusion. "I don't know…"

Without the protection of her magic, she shivered from the cold. The wind was cutting, and in the sudden gust it was as if she were naked— a line of thought that had her blushing as she realized Erebus was in attendance.

Kaede reacted quickly, leaping forward and sweeping her Artifact over Hotaru. The little girl disappeared, sent within the Artifact.

Gilgamesh tilted his head, crimson eyes curious. "Was that normal?"

"Probably not!" Kaede cried.

...

Kuro was making inappropriate advances at Shiro under Luvia and Rin's fuming gazes when she felt a sudden choking sensation at her neck. She stumbled back in surprise from the uncomfortable Shiro, clutching at her shirt's collar, only for the pressure to suddenly ease.

Shiro blushed. "Kuro-chan, you shouldn't–"

Kuro didn't catch the rest of his words as she suddenly lost her sense of balance, tumbling to the floor in confusion as she felt like she was being pummeled on all sides, before this also stopped abruptly. She barely managed to get off the floor when her shoulder suddenly exploded in pain.

"AH!" she cried, more surprised than hurt, clutching at the pained segment. "What the hell is going on?-!"

Then her eyes widened, and she turned to Miyu, who'd been dragged along to the house my Luvia. "Miyu… Where's Illya?"

The Magical Girl maid's eyes widened.

Kuro swore and ran upstairs. "Illya?-! _Illya?-!"_

They heard her feet clomping upstairs and the door to the twins'— such as they were— room. There was a clatter and a foul expletive echoed through the air. "_**NI!-!-!-!-!**_"

Saber looked up and frowned at the extremely caustic word.

Irisviel sighed and gave Saber a mournful look. "I blame you for corrupting my daughter with such course language."

Rin sniffed. "It was probably the only part of Kuro that _hadn't _been corrupted yet."

Kuro practically _flew _down the stairs, bouncing off the turning wooden landing to Sella's cries of not running around the house. "She's not upstairs, and I can't find Ruby!" she panted, taking a deep breath to steady herself. "Oh, and there was a message on the computer. Green Lantern found the Wolkenritter."

Sakura frowned in concern. "What?"

Rin straightened. "_What?-!_" she demanded, fingers unconsciously caressing her Command Seals.

"Yeah, they're asking for help or something," Kuro said absently. "Darn it, where the _**NI**_ did she go? I need to get to her! She's in danger!"

Miyu had already drawn out Sapphire. "Can you tell us where Ruby and Illya are?" she asked the Mystic Code.

Kuro perked up. The Mystic Codes contained a mass of occasionally useful side-features. Maybe this time it could be useful for something other than a cheap gag?

Sapphire made a motion reminiscent of tilting its head in thought. "But of course, Miyu-san. Allow me to use one of my 24 secret abilities: GPS tracker!"

Rin twitched, raising an eyebrow as one of Sapphire's faces became a gridded map screen that showed Japan, with a blinking dot at one point. Every time it blinked, Sapphire went 'ping!'. "How the heck does an ancient Mystic Code have GPS?"

"Zelretch-sama was VERY forward thinking," Sapphire said. Rin's eyebrow twitched some more. "Ah, here we are." Something extended from the bottom of Sapphire, which lengthened into a large map of Japan. A caricature of Illya's face and Ruby blinked on the map. "Um, judging from their signal and the latest map I have, she and Ruby are in Uminari City."

Everyone looked at the map, Master, former-Master, Servant, and Magical Girl.

Assassin tapped his lips thoughtfully. "My keen badass Servant instincts sense a pattern emerging…"

"Gee, you think?" Lancer said sarcastically.

"NI!" Kuro swore as she put her pains together. "She's in Uminari fighting the Wolkenritter!

Rin whirled and began to stalk for the door. "Assassin! T-Rex, now! We're going to Uminari!"

Sakura sweatdropped. "Onee-chan, I don't think even a Tyrannosaurus can get to Uminari that fast..."

Rin paused. "You're right. RIDER! Can I borrow Pegasus?"

"I don't think that'll work…" Rider said as Sakura pulled out a notebook from her pocket and started rifling through it, muttering under her breath.

"Damn it!" Rin cried. "We've got Servants and Magi up the walls and not ONE of them has a way to get us to Uminari?-!"

The sonic boom that shook the neighborhood provided adequate exclamation to her words.

Everyone looked up. "Is that good or bad, you think?" Irisviel asked.

"It sounds like the sound of something dropping from supersonic," Sakura said helpfully. Everyone looked at her. "Look, I was ten years old and experimenting with Kaze-neechan's flight spells, okay! Don't judge me!"

"It must be difficult to no longer have access to that power," Luvia said sympathetically. As a magus, any magical knowledge lost was a tragedy to her.

Sakura shrugged. "It was a loan from the start. I'll muddle along as best as I can."

There was a knock on door. Leystritt answered it, and Luvia's old butler entered. "Pardon me mistress," he said, "but there is a gaudily dressed rude gentleman in an equally gaudy flying vehicle parked on our front lawn. There are several less rude individuals with them who wish to speak with you."

Miyu perked up. "Ah. I was wondering where Gilgamesh-kun went."

Saber twitched at the name. She could almost _feel_ the blade in her hands…

Her old vendetta against the 4th Archer experienced a brief "What the hell?" moment as the group trooped over to the mansion across the street.

"PLEASE!" Sailor Uranus begged, on her knees and clutching at one of Gilgamesh's golden-armored legs. "_PLEASE_ let me drive! I'm begging you! Just a quick spin around the planet, I _swear_!"

Sailor Neptune had her face buried in her gloved hand. "Dear, you are being embarrassing…"

Gilgamesh looked like he was facing a philosophical dilemma. On the one hand, he was king and thus everyone else was beneath him, and the thing touching him should be destroyed. On the other hand, he had acknowledged Endymion as _his_ king, who acknowledged these children as his equals, meaning they were nominally _above_ Gilgamesh (though, of course Saber wouldn't know this). It was the first of many philosophical conundrums he was just beginning to realize he might have to face.

A small masked boy raised his hand in greeting, moving off from group standing around the large golden vehicle hovering above the lawn. "Um, hello everyone. We really didn't get a chance to talk after that thing last week…"

Kuro looked him up and down and snapped her fingers. "Hey, aren't you that guy who… tip oft tongue… did you get your Linker Core drained?"

"Um, well…" he said hesitantly

"Oh my… YOU'RE NEGI SPRINGFIELD!-!-!-!-!" Irisviel cried, her hands to her cheeks.

Negi twitched as Rin and Luvia perked up like dogs on the scent. "Um, can we pretend no one said tha-—"

"NEGI-SAMA! MAKE ME PART OF YOUR HAREM!" Luvia screamed.

The tall— and very busty, Rin, Sakura, Luvia, Miyu, Kuro and Saber were self-conscious to see— ninja next to him wearing the mask and moldy old blanket chuckled. "Your popularity precedes you, sensei."

"I WILL NOT DISAPPOINT YOU!" Luvia cried again.

Negi slumped. "You know, one of the things I like about not being in the Magical World was that women don't yell that at me."

Kuro sighed. "Trace, on," she said, and used the duct tape that appeared between her hands to seal Luvia's mouth shut. "What are you doing here?" she asked as Luvia vainly tried to get the tape off without it ripping off a substantial chunk of her drill-like curls.

"Green Lantern-chan, Black Reaper-chan and Kaleido Ruby-chan found the Wolkenritter and called for help," Eternal Sailor Moon said as Tuxedo Kamen tried to mediate Gilgamesh through his moral dilemma, which consisted of prying Sailor Uranus off him and keeping Gilgamesh from being violent. "Didn't you read the message?"

Everyone shuffled nervously. "She usually takes care of the messages…" Rin grumbled.

"She has her own computer…" Shiro said.

Negi blinked. "Oh. Well, that's okay, we're here now. Um, so, will you be coming with us, or…?"

Kuro took two steps and leapt up onto the _Vimana_. "Let's go! We have to save my sister!"

"Mongrel! Get your feet of my treasure!" Gilgamesh cried.

Kuro glared at him. The air behind her began to ripple with the outlines of swords a hair away from becoming reality and going for his throat. "Did you just call me a bitch?-!" she demanded.

Everyone else took an involuntary step back as the air behind Gilgamesh glowed and rippled, weapons beginning to protrude. His eyes had narrowed, his slit-like pupils contracting into dagger lines…

"Knock it off, Gilgamesh," Tuxedo Kamen said. "We're under time pressure. There's no point in being king of the world if there's no world to be king _of_." He turned to the assorted Magi and former Servants. "Anyone who need a ride to Uminari, hop on board. We're taking anyone." He gave the golden-armored man an emphatic look. "_Anyone_, is that clear?"

Gilgamesh grimaced, but bowed in acquiescence. "As you command, your Majesty."

"Oh?" Saber said, raising the back of her hand to her opposite cheek in true 'evil bitch' fashion. "Is the high and mighty King of Heroes reduced to being a taxi driver for commoners?"

The first ever nerve, possibly made of GOLD, which was the prototype of all subsequent nerves before it became a famous part of someone's legend, was worked as one golden eyebrow twitched.

Iris stared at Saber, open mouthed. "Saber-chan! Are you… being_ bitchy?-!_"

"Yes," the golden-eyed warrior said.

Iris burst into tears. "Oh, our little Saber-chan is growing up!"

"Um," Sakura said tentatively. "It doesn't look like we'll fit…"

...

"You know, as economy class seating goes, this is actually quite nice," Sakura commented as she knelt next to the table and sipped her tea.

"This tea is _excellent_, gynoid-san," Shiro waxed poetic. "Could I possibly have your recipe?"

Saber frowned, her golden eyes looking around in a predatory fashion. "Do we get an in-flight meal?"

...

"May I…?"

"NO, YOU MAY NOT! NOW, WILL PEOPLE STOP ASKING ME IF THEY CAN DRIVE?-!-?-!"

"Darn…" Rider muttered.

...

Night had fallen as the _Vimana_ approached Uminari city. The deck of the vehicle was nearly bare now. Sailor Uranus and Rider had been exiled to Kaede's cloak to keep them from making pests of themselves and Eternal Sailor Moon had opted to join them for some tea, leaving the ninja, Tuxedo Kamen, Negi, Kotaro, Gilgamesh and Sailor Mercury outside. The latter had stepped out to take preliminary scans as they got closer to the city, and it was by her order they hovered now, motionless almost at the city's edge.

"No doubt about it," Sailor Mercury said. "There's some kind of barrier around the city, the bay, and some of the surrounding land. It's similar to the barrier magic we've already seen, but significantly overpowered."

"Can't we break through it?" Negi asked.

Sailor Mercury shook head hesitantly. "I don't think that's a good idea. For one thing, if Green Lantern-chan is fighting in there, we might destroy the city if we take it down while she's launching an attack."

Everyone thought back to all of Green Lantern's fights they had seen and nodded agreement.

"Is there any way to get in without taking it down?" Negi asked.

Sailor Mercury shrugged. "Maybe we can ask the TSAB?"

Negi blinked. "That's an option?"

Sailor Mercury nodded, beginning to work on her computer. "Usually Green Lantern-chan or Ferret Lantern-kun serves as an intermediary, but I'll try to see if I can back-trace my last contact with them."

Kaede suddenly jerked as a head stuck itself upside down out of her cape. "Are we there yet?" Rin asked a moment before she fell out of the cape and onto her head. "Ow."

"Are you all right?" Negi asked, concerned.

As Rin was about to look up and meet Negi's gaze, Kaede subtly grabbed him, wrapped a chain around his leg and threw him off the _Vimana_. His scream of surprise dopplered out as Rin raised her head and blinked, looking around. Shrugging, she stuck her head back in the cloak. "We're here!" they heard her muffled voice say.

Panting, Negi swung himself back onto the Vimana. "What was that for?" he asked Kaede, looking slightly hurt.

Kaede coughed. "My apologies sensei, but now really isn't a good time for you to attract any new girls."

Negi blinked. "What?"

"Nothing, don't think about it."

Negi sighed. "Shinobi-san…"

A purple-haired head popped out of Kaede's Artifact, followed by the rest of the girl as she tumbled out of the cape. "Owie…" Sakura said, before getting back to her feet, shaking.

"Sis!" Rin cried. "Get back in there! It's dangerous out here!"

"Not very," Sakura said. "Is that the Barrier?"

"What we can see of it," Sailor Mercury said. "I'm trying to adjust my visor to filter through the dimensional distortion so I can make out what's happening inside, but no luck so far."

Sakura frowned, though it was hard to tell with the bandanna covering her mouth. She narrowed her eyes, staring intently. "Most of the city inside the barrier has been leveled. Kaleido Ruby and Ferret Lantern are keeping… Oh no…"

Everyone blinked at her. "Sis?" Rin said, a faint touch of suspicion in her voice. "You can see in? What was that 'oh no' for?"

"Kaze-neechan…" Sakura said breathily. "They're fighting Kaze-neechan!"

Rin blinked. "Who?"

"The spirit the 4th Caster had stay with me the last ten years!"

"Oh, so _that's_ who you meant all those times…" Rin said in comprehension. "So, wait, if that's the case, why are Ruby and Ferret fighting her? Didn't she disappear with Caster?"

"I don't… I'm not sure…" Sakura said. "But it can't be good…"

Kotaro tilted his head. "Does anyone else hear a… helicopter?"

Everyone looked around. "There!" Sailor Mercury cried, pointing into the night.

It was hard to make out at first. Its matte black finish didn't reflect well, and it had no running lights. Even a supposedly stealth helicopter still makes noise, however, and soon they were able to pinpoint its source.

"Did anyone know the JSDF would be here?" Tuxedo Kamen said.

Sailor Mercury looked up form her work. "My gosh, we need to get them out of here!" she exclaimed. "They'll die!"

"That is a very negative view of the brave men and women who risk their lives to protect our country against North Rhelasia, China and kaijuu," Tuxedo Kamen said. He paused. "True, but negative."

Gilgamesh had stood up and narrowed his eyes at the helicopter. "Your Majesty," he said, his Archer-class eyes epically sharp. "Unless these mongrels have become so desperate they have begun employing female midgets to their so-called 'army', that is a child piloting that inferior machine."

Everyone looked at him in surprise, then back at the helicopter. "You're right…" Sailor Mercury said, having her visor zoom in on the cockpit. "It's… some purple-haired girl I don't know, with three other kids in the seat behind her."

Kaede frowned, reached into her Artifact, and pulled out a pair of binoculars.

Rin blinked. "Huh. So _that's_ what that pile was for."

"Sensei," Kaede said, lowering the binoculars. "I recognize one of the girls on that helicopter. She was the one who fought the third Wolkenritter who took your core." As the black helicopter approached, the wind rose, making Sailor Mercury and Rin yelp and try to keep their skirts down against the updrafts.

"Gilgamesh, bring this thing down," Tuxedo Kamen ordered. "We need a plan, and it's kind of hard to make one from up here…"

...

"Hey, Fetishistic Mask Girl! Without the fetishistic mask this time!" Haruna greeted.

Kinomoto Sakura drooped slightly as Tomoyo's elegant eyebrow twitched. Meilin gave her a sideways look and Syaoran's hand began to reach for his sword. "Hooooeeee…" the Card Mistress in progress groaned.

"Sakura-san," Kaede greeted as the last of everyone trooped out of her Artifact and onto the snowy ground. "What are you doing here? Did Green Lantern-chan call you?"

Sakura blinked. "What? No. I haven't talked to Green Lantern-chan since you bought Syaoran-kun back after he was attacked."

Behind her Tomoyo merely smiled her mysterious, saintly smile © and quite definitely did NOT whistle innocently.

"Then why are you here?" Eternal Sailor Moon asked.

Sakura blushed, not meeting anyone's gaze.

Kuro sweatdropped. "_That's_ what you want to know? No questions about the _frickin' assault helicopter they rode in on?-!-?-!-?-!-?-!"_"

Luvia gave the copter a cursory look. "Meh, it's nothing anyone with enough money couldn't buy," the blonde said.

"Actually, I built it myself, Luviagelita-san," Tomoyo corrected politely.

Miyu gasped as Luvia reeled back. "T-tomoyo! H-how did you know it was me?-!-?"

"Ohohohohoho!" Tomoyo laughed elegantly, sending terror running up and down Syaoran's spine. "Luviagelita-san, the next time you try to deceive me with a mask, try not to do so in a dress I made for you for your last birthday."

Rin and Luvia facepalmed. "You forgot who gave you the dress?-!" Rin cried. "Why are you even wearing it?-!"

"It's the most durable one of my Kevlar-lined, ballistic plated ones!" Luvia snapped back."I wasn't expecting to run into its maker tonight!"

Rin frowned at her. "You own a Kevlar-lined, ballistic-plated dress?"

"You don't?" Luvia shot back. "Have you _forgotten_ the first rule of being a Magi?"

"Hey, no fighting, no fighting!" Shiro cried, trying to get between them.

Asuna sighed. "Maybe we should have dragged Chisame with us just to have someone sane around to yell at us…" she muttered.

Gilgamesh twitched. "May I deal with the mongrels, your Majesty?"

"Tempting, but no," Tuxedo Kamen said. He fastidiously took off one of his gloves, raised two fingers to his lips, and blew an ear-piercing whistle. "Ahem. Ladies and gentlemen. I realize it is in the nature of many of us to bicker with one another no matter how serious the situation, but we are on a strict time limit. Mysterious as this young lady and her friends appearing here may be, we have bigger problems. We need to find a way to circumvent that barrier and stop the Wolkenritter."

The other Sakura frowned. She'd been riffling through the brown notebook she'd been carrying ever since she'd set foot on the ground. "I _think_ the barrier spell is called '_Gefängnis der Magie_'. In Ancient Belkan, it means 'Magic Prison', or close enough. It's meant to lock things _in_, and have them _stay_ locked in."

Everyone stared at her.

She shrugged a tad defiantly, looking at her sister intently. "It seems I retained some of what I knew when Kaze-neechan was inside me. I've been writing it down in this journal in case I forgot."

"Who?" Asuna asked, confused.

Kuro waved a dismissive hand. "We don't have time for exposition right now! Let's just say she used to have a lot of power, and now it's gone."

The purple-haired girl coughed. "Actually…" she said, raising a finger. "_Practe Biginar Ardescat!_"

A flame flickered above it. The Magi stared.

Sailor Mars snorted. "Big deal. _I_ can do that. Or is this one of those exposition-heavy things we don't have time for right now?"

"Imouto…" Rin said. "Ex–" She paused. "I'd have you explain, but I don't think we have time for that now. Give us the short version."

Sakura took a deep breath. "I believe I have retained some ability to use the 4th Caster's powers, though at reduced ease. I can only be sure of the spells I've used myself without her direct guidance, but so far I have managed to utilize her flight spell, several attack spells, and at least three Magister Magi specific abilities that would theoretically be impossible for a Magus, among others."

Many looked at her blankly. Rin sighed. "I asked for the short version, imouto."

"I can kick ass," Sakura said succinctly. "I'm not sure how long, and with what, but I can. A lot."

Rin smiled. "Now was that so hard to say?"

Beneath their feet, the ground began to rumble. Startled cries filled the air, and an unseemly number of girls tried to grab onto Negi for support, with the end result that they all fell over and he ended up buried in the center of them.

Lancer's eyebrow twitched. "Lucky bastard," he muttered. Assassin nodded agreement.

"Yes!" Sailor Mercury cried. Everyone jumped. "I've made contact with the TSAB! Beat that, Calculator! Bwahahahahahaha… ahem." She demurely coughed the end of her maniacal laughter. "This is Sailor Mercury, contacting the TSAB! TSAB, what's the situation beneath the Uminari barrier? And what was that earthquake just now?"

"_That was no earthquake_," the sort-of familiar feminine voice from Sailor Mercury's computer chirped as people gathered around it. "_That was the strongest of the dimensional stress being caused by the Book of Darkness disrupting the barrier and leaking into the real world!"_

"We need a way to get into the barrier!" Asuna yelled practically at Sailor Mercury's ear, making the bluenette wince. "Can you teleport us in or something?"

"_No. We haven't had any luck deciphering the barrier's formulae either,_" the voice said. "_Though in about fifteen seconds, that won't matter."_

Everyone blinked. "Why not?" Negi asked.

"_Because the barrier is going to fall apart from the inside._"

The older Sakura whirled, staring intently at the barrier. "She's right. Kaze-neechan is about to use Starlight Breaker EX."

"Huh?" Shiro asked.

"That big pink ray of doom from last time."

Gilgamesh twitched and sternly fought down the impulse to roll into a fetal ball. The king was an absolute existence above such things, darn it!

"When it breaks the barrier," Sakura continued, "the entire city will be vulnerable. Thousands of people…"

It took half a second for that to sink in.

Tuxedo Kamen leapt onto the Vimana, calling for Gilgamesh to get it in the air as Kaede began collecting people into her Artifact…

"_Emittam! Fulgarioa Albicans! Armationem!"_ Negi cast, his body becoming sheathed in a crackling white glow.

"Sakura!" Rin cried as she realized her sister wasn't coming with her into the Artifact.

"Hoe?"

"No, not you, the other one! Get over here! "

Sakura hadn't moved from where she'd stood, staring blankly down at the book in her hands. Then, decisively, she snapped it shut. "No, oneechan. I still have some power left. I intend to use it. After all, I have declared myself a Magical Girl. I must stand by my declaration!"

She held out her hands and concentrated. Light began to glow beneath her, dark-purple energy that began to slowly organize into lines, and from there into circles and symbols…

"_Sleipnir!_"

...

Illya ran between some bookshelves of the geometric migraine that Yuuno said was a perfect replica of some place called the Infinity Library. A green glow came from everywhere, rendering her Noble Phantasm-given ability to fade into darkness and shadow useless. Her _Mantle of the Darkest Knight_ inert, she was staying out of direct line of sight.

"_Iaiken!" _

There was a rumble as several construct walls of bookshelves were blasted apart, only to reform almost instantly. There was no effort or support in the constructs except to maintain their existence, no attempt at much solidity, meaning them getting destroyed cost Yuuno nothing and allowed him to quickly rebuild. Their purpose wasn't to imprison or really contain the Book, it was to disorient it and keep it relatively blind. Yuuno was subtly manipulating gravity and the spin of his giant construct to keep the Book pointed _away_ from Arf and the girls so no stray spells struck. That left Illya with the task of attacking, using the masses of reconstructing shelves and twisted, non-traditional architecture as cover.

Her cape flew behind her like a manner as she leapt to the top of a shelf, grabbing a 'book' from it– "The Seven Firearms of Highly Effective Archaeologists"– and throwing it into the empty space in front of her. It flew up for longer than it should have– another gravity deadzone– and Illya threw one of her arm-chains through the patch, feeling it catch onto a pylon and letting her reel herself upwards as she drew a several curved metal blades from her belt. She hit the deadzone and turned, seeing an opening through the shelves, the Book outlined almost dead center of the opening, and threw. The blades spun, flying through and slamming into the Book's side, exploding on contact.

The Book turned to retaliate, but Illya was already gone, lost amidst the shelves, bizarchitecture, and optical illusions. The Book's attack tore through the deadzone, and everything behind it, for a moment revealing the devastated skyline of the inside of the barrier. Then it was gone again, the construct rebuilding almost instantly. The Book's cry of frustration echoed through the shelves.

Illya decided she like the sound of screams of frustration coming from people trying to kill her.

Suddenly, the whole construct shook slightly. Illya raised a hand to the base of one of her helm's horns, tapped a green dot. "_**Green Lantern?**_"

"_GAH!_" came the shrill reply. "_Don't do that! You nearly gave me a heart attack!_"

"_**What was that shake?**_"

"_It wasn't me or the Book… hang on…_" A pause. "_I'm picking up dimensional stress! It's disrupting the barrier slightly, which is what you felt. I think the Book's starting its self-destruct cycle!_" Another beat. "_The Asura confrms my readings! We're running out of time–_"

_"**Gather, light of the stars!**_

Illya jerked her head up, and she heard Yuuno do the same. "Oh, shit…" they chorused.

**"_I summon the light of destruction down upon my prisoners. Stars, gather, and become the light which pierces everything."_**

Illya turned and started running for the closest edge of the construct, seeking open air.

_**"Tear through everything in a blaze of light! 10… 9… 8…"**_

"_RUN!_" Yuuno cried.

They ran.

"_**Starlight Breaker EX!**_"

The construct exploded in a blaze of pink, the magic tearing through the weak light and crying for the sky. The blast wave took her from behind, sending her flying through several deteriorating walls, her night-black armor managing to protect her. Then she was out of range, falling towards the ground head-first.

Blearily, she tried to use her Mantle to teleport to somewhere safer, but it was still too bright. There was nothing to throw her chains at, no more buildings below them. Gritting her teeth, she determinedly pressed the green button Yuuno had put on her helm as she fell head-first to the ground. "_**Illya to Yuuno-san. I need air support. Since I can't fly just now. At all.**_"

The pink beam struck the barrier, and it shattered, reality rushing back in its place.

The top of a building appeared over Illya's head, fifty feet away. She calmly pressed the button again. "_**Now would be nice.**_"

The building rushed at her head…

There was a crack of thunder and a brilliant golden flash.

Illya blinked as she found herself being cradled bridal-style by a masked, glowing boy about her age, his long hair trailing behind him like a kite's tail as he landed lightly and set her on her feet. "Are you all right miss?" he asked, smiling at her.

Some things are beyond the ability of even powerful Noble Phantasms to protect from. Illya found herself blushing at that smile. "Um, yeah, I'm fine, thank you," she nearly– didn't, but _nearly_– stammered out.

"_ONEE-CHAN!_"

Illya found herself getting tackled from behind by her enthusiastic sister. "K-kuro?"

"Don't _**EVER**_ do that again!" Kuro cried. Then she slammed her lips onto Illya's.

Illya found herself blushing even deeper as Kuro, without any preamble, stuck her tongue into Illya's mouth. Negi's entire face grew red, and he looked away, deeply embarrassed.

The ground shook.

Illya panted, and pushed herself away from Kuro unsteadily. "W-what did you d-do…?" she panted. "It couldn't have been _that_ goo– er, that is…"

Kuro sniffed. "Gee, thanks," she said. "Way to insult my technique."

_"Gefängnis der Magie!"_

The world pulsed again, becoming seen seemingly through a film of oil on water again as a barrier was raised once more. Illya only then became aware of a roaring above her. She looked up and stared. "Isn't that… from mom's movie?"

It was a sleek, triangular vessel, made of gold and precious stones, shinning like the sun. And on it and around it stood and floated… "_MINNA-SAN!_"

A shining emerald light was falling from the remains of the gigantic library construct, and already several girls riding flying manta rays were heading to catch and intercept Yuuno. People leapt from the deck of the _Vimana_, landing on the buildings around them, the white-clad forms of the Senshi, the more esoteric wear of Ala Alba, the rather disturbingly skin-tight, fetishy clothes of the Servants, the off-the-rack garb of her fellow Magi, even her Onii-chan wearing that replica of Archer's outfit. Behind the _Vimana_ hovered a black helicopter, bristling with weaponry.

It was Sakura who'd cast the spell, Rin's sister Sakura, floating above them all, clad in the black of the _Noble Phantasm: Armor of Darkest Night_, a dark purple triangular glyph glowing beneath her. "Book of Darkness!" she cried. "For putting innocents in danger!"

"For threatening our world!" Eternal Sailor Moon cried.

"For making me miss my sitcoms!" the red-headed sword-wielding Ala Alba cried. There were several hisses of outrage from the Senshi. Sailor Mercury sighed.

"_WE WILL PUNISH YOU, IN THE NAME OF ALL MAHOU SHOUJO!_"

Illya stared… and facepalmed.

"You couldn't think of anything better to punish her in the name of?" she said.

Kuro shrugged. "I wanted 'For the Loli', but I was outvoted."

...

Tohsaka Sakura (she had always been a Tohsaka in her heart, no matter what had happened) was in agony.

Her magic circuits burned with the unfamiliar feel of her own magic, for once not guided or regulated by an outside intelligence. Her skin burned as power was metabolized within her. Her chest felt on fire. The magical arts of Mid-Childa and Ancient Belka flowed through her, as did the prana of magecraft and the mana of magisterial wizardry. Her Linker Core, soul and magic circuits, all nearly unused, screamed as their virginity, for lack of a better word, was taken.

It reminded her, viscerally, of those hellish, nearly forgotten years in the midst of the crest worms. Try as Kaze-neechan might, some emotional scars from it had been burned too deeply into her heart for magic to hide. In the end, it had taken ten years of the rather bizarre therapy of a voice in her head to put it behind her, and paradoxically accept it as a part of her. And so she flashed to naked, screaming nights on the cold stone floor, surrounded by squirming, wiggling, _intruding_ forms entering her, violating her, taking her innocence in more ways than one. On the third day, her voice had given out. And it had only gotten worse.

She felt the darkness try to take her, felt the primal fears of a child begin to overwhelm her. Just because they were childish did not mean they had no power. No, it meant they held infinitely more. She almost let it take her, almost nearly gave in, and realized she was waiting for a little, quiet voice in her head to speak to her, to give her strength. That voice was gone now, its purpose done, its power returned to the Throne of Heroes. And so Sakura felt the agony alone once more.

The difference was, _now_ she was ready. Now, this was by choice.

Besides, she was flying. She could put up with a lot for that. The pain didn't bother her. It was the price of her choice. And it would go away in time once her body got used to magic again. For now…

Semi-familiar equations, algorithms and constants came to her as she took flight, leading the charge against the spirit of the Book of Darkness that looked so much like Kaze-neechan. It felt like instinct, in a way, something her body and soul knew how to do even if she herself didn't. She didn't think of how or why, didn't question what she could accomplish. She took it for granted, and hoped she knew what she was doing.

As fast as she was, the little kid her sister had called Negi got there first. A flicker of lightning, a crackle of thunder, and suddenly the Book of Darkness seemed surrounded on all sides by a legion of striking fists and feet, each impact coming with its own sonic boom.

The strange, red-veined black armor the Book was wearing— the same armor _she_ had on, Sakura realized— seemed to just soak in the blows, numerous as they were, and after a second or two of disorientation it rallied, releasing a cloud of bind spells. Negi managed to dodge between the spells, weaving intricately between them. His long, trailing hair, however, was slightly less cooperative. It whipped unfortunately, catching itself on a bind and locking in place, drawing Negi short as his head whiplashed.

In less than the blink of an eye the Book retaliated, swinging backhanded and managing to catch Negi in the stomach. Negi bent over, surprised, and the Book's other hand swung to follow through.

"_Shinmeiryu Ougi: Zanmaken_," it intoned, going for Negi's throat.

The gold-capped end of a wooden staff slammed into its wrist, throwing the hand up and diverting it to cut through Negi's hair. Negi darted out of the way as Sailor Venus's chain snagged the Book's ankle

"No hurting my student, aru!" Ku chirped, the other end of her Artifact braced on a roof.

"Isn't that sensei's line, Yellow-chan?" Konoka sang as she knelt by Yuuno.

"No reason can't use it too, aru!"

Sailor Jupiter and Rider heaved on the heart-shaped chain, pulling at the Book and slamming it against the side of a building. "Fun fact I learned in school," Sailor Jupiter said as Rider let go. "Gold is _very_ good at conducting electricity. _Jupiter Supreme Thunder!"_

The lightning flew up the chain, arcs jumping from link to link and concentrating the attack as it struck the Book. It reeled, mini-arcs crackling between plates of its armor.

"Force it down!" Kuro cried as she drew back on her bow, Hrunting cold against her cheek. "We need to beat it, fast!" She let go.

Illya's hand flashed almost too fast for the archeress to see, snagging the blade as soon as it cleared the bow. Pink lines began to vein it at Illya's touch. Kuro blinked.

"_**No killing…**_" Illya snapped at her sister and everyone in hearing range. "_**It did something to Green Lantern and Black Reaper. We still need to get them back.**_"

Kuro shuddered. "You are _so_ hot right now…" she practically purred.

Illya blushed beneath her mask. "FOCUS!" she cried, sounding much like her usual self.

"Fire!" Rin cried, throwing her jewels as the Senshi, Assassin, Miyu, Yue, Kaede, Chachamaru, Kotaro and Negi let loose with their attacks. The vicinity of the Book soon became a confused mess of spells and brilliantly colored energies.

"Did we get it?" Yuuno panted as Konoka finished treating him.

Illya swung her new sword experimentally, which was already changing to match her armor. "I doubt it's that easy…"

From the convergence of energies, black strands erupted, sharps as needles. People dodged, but rather than slamming into the various surfaces the strands turned, flexed, and pressed the attack. In the center of them was a black sphere made of shadow.

Eternal Sailor Moon's eyes went wide, and by instinct she screamed the words that were the bane and most dreaded enemy of Mahou Shoujo and ninja everywhere, hands covering her crotch and backside. "TENTACLES!"

All the girls paled.

"Me first!" cried Haruna.

Well, nearly all.

Chaos ensued.

Somewhere, Takamachi Nanoha, who was both a Mahou Shoujo _and_ a ninja, shuddered and wondered why she felt she should feel grateful.

...

Fate glanced at Nanoha as the girl shuddered suddenly. "Nanoha-chan? Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm just… for some reason, I feel very grateful and have no idea why…" Nanoha said, confused. She glanced sideways at Fate. "Are you sure about where you're going, Fate-chan?"

Fate nodded, gesturing at Alicia, who was walking in front of them and occasionally looking back and smiling at Fate. They were back in the marble halls, their footsteps loud and echoing amongst the empty fastness. "Don't worry. We're almost there," the taller blonde said. The hallway opened into a large dome. Inset beneath the dome was a large blue disk encircled by a double ring of designs. The red carpet led right to it.

Alicia pointed. "The focus point of this place is here. Unfortunately, the taint of the fake grail is too strong. Even if you break out, you wouldn't escape."

"Then… how do we get out?" Fate asked as Nanoha glanced at her.

Alicia gave her a meaningful look. "You need to free the Mistress of the Book. She's awake now, but powerless, trapped by the taint and corruption. You must combine your strength and attack the taint from within as your companions attack it from outside."

"But… how do we do that?" Fate asked.

"You need to break out of this place, imouto," Alica said. She winked. "I think you and Linith once spoke of a way it could be done."

Fate glanced at Bardiche. Alicia nodded and stepped aside, gesturing at the empty space beneath the dome.

"Fate-chan?" Nanoha said.

Fate held up a hand, doing the math in her head. It could work. If this place _was_ the focus as Alicia said it was, then… "Bardiche, _Set Up,_" she ordered.

"_Yes sir."_

As Bardiche changed form and covered Fate with her Barrier Jacket, the blonde turned towards Nanoha. "You might want to stand over here, Nanoha-chan," she said as she walked over next to Alicia. "When I collapse this place, I don't want us to get separated. Bardiche, Zamber mode!"

As the Device changed form, Alicia giggled.

Fate shot her a glance. "What?"

"Aren't you overcompensating a bit too much, Fate-chan?" Alicia snickered.

Fate flushed, but was unable to retort as Nanoha stepped next to her, looking a bit bemused. Giving Alicia a reproachful look, Fate told them both, "Step closer. I don't know how likely we are to get separated, but best not take chances."

Nanoha frowned cutely. "If that's the case…"

There was a 'click' by her feet. Fate looked down. A glowing green chain was shackled to her leg, the emerald links leading to another similar shackle on Nanoha. "Well…" the blonde said, blinking as Nanoha smiled in satisfaction. "I suppose that's one way of making sure."

Fate took a deep breath and raised Bardiche. A wide golden circle erupted beneath her feet as power crackled in the air. Lightning, or at least something lightning-like, flashed through the edges of the room, purplish-black with strange candy-cane-esque red lines. Nanoha stepped closer, standing back-to-back with Fate, her grip tightening on Raging Heart's shaft. "_Hurricane Thunderclap!_" Fate intoned, spreading her energy to begin the disruption process.

"Ooh, pretty…!" Alicia said, clapping and staring in bright-eyed delight.

Fate stifled a chuckle and drew Bardiche back, careful not to hit Nanoha. "_Sprite Zamber!_" she cried as she swung.

The world shattered, and they were swallowed by utter blackness…

...

Many of the Magical Girls, Negi found himself noting, had scattered in a panicked rout the moment Eternal Sailor Moon had yelled tentacles, with only a few exceptions. He wondered about that. He'd understand if it was Chisame or Nodoka– they'd had a few unpleasant encounters with such things on Mundus Magicus– but everyone? It made no sense. He'd ask, but in a flash of insight he guessed this would be one of the things he would be told not to think about.

Still, not _everyone_ had dissolved in utter panic.

"_Bellerophon!_" Rider cried, she and her steed shooting across the sky like an arrow of light, leaving a sonic boom like a planet's death-scream in their wake. They dove down at the black sphere all the tentacles extruded from. Tentacles rose to meet them, ribbon-thin and sharp, stabbing and slashing at the descending Servant.

"_Trace, On!_"

Kuro didn't let them, her enormous black bow letting fly even more enormous _Ensis Exorcizanae. _The swords unmade the shadows on contact, clearing the path. Rider struck, the shadow-sphere shattering at the point of impact. A barrier like a seven-petalled flower flashed, deflecting Rider into the city below with an equine scream as she tried to pull up. The force nonetheless slammed the Book of Darkness into the side of a skyscraper, and the remnants of the sphere cushioned her fall.

With a heart attack-inducing roar, a dark, blue-veined blade tore _through_ the wall of building behind the Book, one clawed hand pulling the Book inside and slamming her into and through the floor at her feet. The force of it was enough to send the Book through the two floors below that. Two small metal balls followed, and there was a crack and flash as the flashbangs went off.

As the spirit of the Book lat there, stunned, an elegantly and overdressedly gloved hand reached over and grabbed the open Book of Darkness itself floating next to her fallen form. The silver-haired head snapped up as a chain rattled.

"Yoink," Tuxedo Kamen deadpanned as he finished wrapping the fluttering, struggling book in Enkidu. He turned and, Book tucked under his arm, threw his cane underhanded at the nearest window. The window cracked, and shattered, and he leapt through the falling shards. "Now!" he yelled to a spot of golden light above the building. Illya leapt out of her floor and dropped at him, catching him in midair before throwing the chain around her sword hand to swing them away.

High above, Gilgamesh raised one gold-armored arm, his crimson irises narrowing into slits as his eyes focused. "_Noble Phantasm: Gate of Babylon!_" Behind him, the air rippled before erupting in a rain of light that slammed into the building from above.

As the building was systematically leveled behind them, Illya and Tuxedo Kamen landed on another building. "The Book!" Illya demanded. "Now!"

She reached for the Book as Tuxedo Kamen drew it from his cape, but before she could touch it, the Book pulsed. "_Blutiger Dolch_," it intoned.

"Crap," Illya managed.

Crimson knives appeared in an ordered sphere around the Lost Logia, all pointed outward. Illya raised Hrunting in a guard position.

Beneath them, a green, rune-inscribed circle flickered into being.

"_Round Guarder!_"

The daggers flew and exploded on contact with the surface of the shield and every other surface around. That was all it had time to do before Gate of Babylon became directed at the Bibliological Lost Logia even as Yuuno, face still slightly hagard, pulled the two out of range with his ring.

Gilgamesh, standing astride the Vimana, glared murderous fury at the Book. "You _**dare**_ attack his Majesty?-!" he roared. "_NO ONE TOUCHES THE KING!_"

The Book's pages turned, settling onto one in particular as it barely avoided the prototypes, knocked back and forth by the explosive concussion. "_Flash Move._" It flickered and disappeared.

"I AM AN _ARCHER!_" Gilgamesh declared grandiosely. "_I CAN __**SEE**__ YOU!_" Prototypes began to tear a path across the city.

Standing upon the construct platform Yuuno had made beneath them, Illya turned to Tuxedo Kamen. "There something going on between you two?"

At the rubble of the recently leveled building some distance away, the debris shifted and a black-armored, red-veined hand thrust out of the ground, clawing its way out. More debris shifted as Soei-jutsu pushed them out of the way. As a silver-haired head finally managed to free itself, and most of their upper body, a glowing, golden-edged blade rested itself against her neck.

"Stand down," Saber said, standing behind her. The few red lines on her dark armor pulsed only slightly, and her pale, washed-out face with its flat, cold golden eyes seemed more so in Excalibur's glow. Invisible Air blew around her left gauntlet, an impromptu buckler.

"Or not," Lancer said almost cheerfully, resting Gae Bolg opposite the holy sword. "Doesn't really matter to me."

Around the Spirit of the Book, Assassin, Shiro, Negi, Kotaro, and Miyu gripped their own weapons, those who had them, ready to strike. She froze.

The debris didn't, the rubble exploding outward from beneath them, Gae Bolg and Excalibur pushed back from the force. The two were more than ready however. Lancer spun his spear defensively, deflecting the debris, while Saber ducked her head, protecting her face with her wind-shrouded arm. The others weren't so lucky. Assassin swore as he tried to shield himself with his duster. Kotaro moved to stand in front of Shiro, managing to deflect most of the debris with his claws and his own Soei-jutsu, while Shiro hastily Traced Byakuya and Kanshou and used them to deflect the rest.

Miyu and Negi reacted fastest, the former calling forth a protective sphere around her with a wave of Sapphire, the latter darting back out of range with lightning speed. The debris bounced off Miyu's shield easily, but she was unable to respond. Negi wasn't so limited.

"_Jaculatio Fulgoris!_!" Negi cast, lightning spears materializing around him before he launched them at the Book.

Shadows erupted from beneath the book, forming a complicated but compact sigil between the Book and the spears. "_Negica Magia Erebea._"

The spears slammed into the sigil, to Negi's slaw-jawed shock, and collapsed into a single ball of energy that the Book absorbed. The Book blurred as she charged at Negi, as fast as he, her fist striking at his head. Negi parried with his forearm, wincing, his foot lashing out to counterattack. It slammed hard into the dark, veined armor the Book wore, and Negi winced again, even as he parried another blow. The Book's other hand darted knife-like into his defenses, her palm slamming into his chest. Negi was thrown back, stunned but relatively unharmed. He slammed into the building across the street, slightly dizzy…

Wait. Dizzy?

He looked down. On his chest was a small piece of metal, somehow imbedded into his skin. His hand rose to his chest…

Blackness.

"_Gae Bolg!_"

The Book's armor exploded from her chest, a bloody, gaping wound and a hole through her heart tearing itself open as the Book spun, hand snapping up with an intoned, "_Silent Wall._" The invisible barrier snapped up in front of her, and the crimson spear of death slammed straight into it, its space-warping abilities unable to get it around the obstinate barrier as a concerned Shiro ran to Negi's aid.

Lancer's eyebrow twitched. "Okay, those shields of yours are getting _**REALLY FUCKING ANNOYING!**_"

"Noted," the Book said. "End._ Silence Glaive–_"

The Book stopped mid-cast and dodged. Silvery hair fell in long strands a small line of blood was cut on the Book's cheek.

"Not as untouchable as you seem," Saber said coldly.

A second stroke of Excalibur tore through the fluttering coattails of her Knight Armor, leaving a neat cut. The Book kicked fiercely, launching debris into Saber's face. With contemptible ease, the King of Knights swatted it out of the air.

"_Trace, On._"

Saber's next strike struck metal as a blaze of golden light erupted in the Book's hands, and the riposte would have taken Saber's head off had she not raised her blade. Instinct guided her hand after that as attacks suddenly came at her in a blur, metal beginning to ring loudly as Excalibur struck another weapon. Saber fought with cold precision, her feet dancing on the uneven ground. It was clearly giving her problems, ones that were exacerbated when the Book took activated its flight, removing the factor of footing. With a cry, Lancer attacked, giving Saber a strange sense of déjà vu and she wondered what it was with her and red-spear wielding Lancers. The thought was fleeting as she maneuvered to get the Book between the two of them, redoubling her efforts. Lancer let out a cry of nearly animalistic frustration as the spear slammed into an invisible barrier.

Shiro reached the fallen Negi's side. "Hey! You all right?"

Dull, blank eyes looked up at Shiro. That was all the warning he had before a shove sent him flying until his foot caught on some debris, and he slammed down hard, sprawled on his back.

A slight shadow falling over her was all the warning the Book had as Miyu fell on her from above, a short blade on Sapphire's end stabbing downwards, her movements greatly accelerated. Faced with Saber, the Book barely managed to dodge, and Miyu's blade sliced a shallow cut on the inside of the Book's right bicep. It tried to stumble back even as Miyu, inside her defenses, tried to slash at her torso. It scraped off the Book's armor, even as Saber aimed a direct decapitating slash at her head.

"_Fulgario Albicans…_"

The spell slammed into Saber's side. It didn't really hurt her, immune as she was to most magic from this era, but the force did push her away from the Book. This gave the Book the space it needed to slash down at Miyu, who barely raised Sapphire's blade in time to guard. There was a flash of light and Sapphire gave out a cry of pain as the blade broke. The Book swung its golden blade backhanded to finish her off.

"_Forzare!_" Assassin cried, a blast of invisible force erupting from his staff. It slammed into the Book, knocking it back as Kotaro grabbed Miyu from where she'd been, taking her out of range.

"_FINALLY!_" Lancer cried, rushing the Book in a blue blur, spear flashing. No barrier met him this time, only the golden blade in the Book's hands.

Saber rolled to her feet, Excalibur raised to guard, in time to see Negi raising his hands for another spell. There was a dull, empty look in his eyes, his movements deceptively slow and lethargic, but the magic formed quite readily at his command. "_Kilipl Astra–_"

"BAKA NEGI!"

Negi turned his head in time for Asuna to punch him in the face. At the same time, her other hand closed over his spell, cancelling it on contact.

Asuna sighed. "Where's Yuuna and her convenient Magic Suppression bullets when you need her… Well, at least _I'm_ not the one mind-controlled this time…"

"Where were you?-!" Kotaro demanded as Saber, no longer threatened, moved to assist Lancer.

"Hey, just because _you_ never have to worry about unwanted penetration…" She paused as Kotaro gave her a flat look. "Oh, right, Chizu-nee… never mind then."

Negi took this opportunity to flip her off of him, sending her slamming into a wall, his seemingly weak movements holding a surprising amount of power behind them.

"_Aer Capturae!_" Yue cast

"_Venus Love Me Chain!_" Sailor Venus paralleled.

The twin spells struck Negi, locking him into place. Sailor Mercury and Eternal Sailor Moon landed lightly in front of him.

"Confirmed," Sailor Mercury said, scanning Negi. "It's a life-energy drain, the _really_ old kind the Dark Kingdom used. The side-effect is making him vulnerable to control. Er, sorry we took so long to get back!"

Eternal Sailor Moon nodded, smiling at Negi comfortingly. "This _might_ hurt a little… _Moon Tiara Action!_"

The other's, meanwhile, were trying to pin down the Book, which wasn't easy. It had taken flight, and Miyu was barely keeping it from gaining altitude. The others ran at it, trying to overtake and, using the buildings as jump-off points to pin it down. The Book was retaliating by trying to blast the buildings, but everywhere it shot, Asuna was there first, blocking it's spells with her sword and body, neutralizing them. "Surround it!" Asuna cried. "Hit it from all sides! It can't stop us all."

The other Magical Girls, Senshi and Ala Alba, were had returned from where they'd run off when Eternal Sailor Moon had screamed tentacles, blasting magic like it was going out of style. Some stood atop buildings, other shot from the ground, while some, like Valyrie Black, Sakura and Rider managed to block off the sky, keeping the book penned in. The Book dropped it's golden sword, which fell among her attackers, but it was a minor detail as she tried to avoid them…

"W-watch out!" a groggy Shiro cried as Konoka healed him. "Her sword!"

Some looked at him, confused. Luvia, the closest, turned to stare in horror at the dropped Excalibur, which was building up an ominous brilliant glow. "RUN!" she cried, backing away herself. Everyone on the ground scrambled back in panic.

A small, dark form slipped past Luvia, sliding to as stop atop the Broken Phantasm. It raised a small gloved hand. "_Silent Wall,_" she said quietly.

The sword exploded.

The ground collapsed as all the force of the explosion was directed downward, contained by the invisible barrier. People were knocked off their feet by the shockwave, the rest stunned by the sound of the explosion. The Book, forewarned, rushed up at the fliers impeding her, a roiling sphere of power between her hands as the ground beneath her collapsed into a crater, a stench rising as the sewer pipes were breached. "_Eisengeheul_," she said, releasing the spell. There were cries and one whinny of surprise and pain as the flash, noise, and windstorm that exploded from it startled and disoriented them, and sent Miyu, the lightest of the group, tumbling uncontrollably. As Sakura dove to catch the girl and Rider struggled to get Pegasus back under control, the Book made for open air.

"_Gravitas!"_

Everything not nailed down for a couple of hundred meters leapt off the ground for few seconds, knocking those just trying to stand off their feet and sending up a fine cloud of dust and not so fine cloud of debris as gravity was redistributed. The Book, however, felt the gravity around her being set to 'Overkill' as she was violently yanked to the ground by the Earth with several times its usual attractive force and an impact several times her usual weight. Assassin fell to his knees as he finished the spell, panting hard.

Everyone hastily struggled to their feet, ready for the Book to just leap out of its impact crater, probably having protected itself with yet another barrier.

Finally, someone said, "Is over…?"

Everyone flinched.

Through their line of sight, a book flew, arcing up and diving down into the crater.

"Oh crap," Assassin breathed.

That was all the warning they had as prototype Noble Phantasms suddenly began to drop on them.

As people scrambled out of the way, from up above they could hear Tuxedo Kamen yelling at Gilgamesh to cease fire, just as an unearthly, terror-inducing roar echoed through the night and Illya swung from directly overhead, her Berserker cape fluttering behind her like the shadow of Death herself, the pink-veined sword in her hands no longer really recognizable as Hrunting. There was a crack as she tossed the Broken Phantasm like a grenade into the hole, terminated her swing, rolled, and started to run.

A beat later, everyone followed suit.

The crater exploded.

...

The spirit of the Book and Hayate both gave a start as a shattering sound filled the air, as if the world's largest window had decided to take its sweet time breaking apart. A glow began to fill the air of the formless, pastel-colored space in which they stood– hovered? Floated?– and some distance away, the world seemed to fracture and shatter, before exploding in a burst of golden light.

The spirit of the Book stared, stunned, but quickly moved to put herself between Hayate and–

Hayate boggled. "Fate-chan? Nanoha-chan? You're here! Wha– ?" She paused. "Nanoha-chan, why are you wearing Green Lantern-chan cosplay?"

Nanoha blinked, looked down at herself, reached up to her face and sighed. "Ring-chan, new parameter: unless I say otherwise, after 30 seconds, return my visor if I remove it for any reason, okay?"

"_Noted, ma'm._"

Hayate stared at Fate. "What exactly were the two of you _doing_ in those… I'm not sure if you can call those clothes, Fate-chan."

Fate sighed. Why did so many people have an issue with her Barrier Jacket? "Hayate-chan, we're here to rescue you!"

Hayate blinked, not sure what to say to that. What came out was, "Aren't you a little short to be a stormtrooper?"

The two Magical Girls gave her a blank look.

Hayate blushed. "Sorry. Knee jerk Star Wars quote. Won't happen again. How did you guys get here?"

"Indeed," the spirit of the Book said. "You had been stored in Capture Space 02 by the automated defense program. The illusion in place should have kept you from realizing you needed to escape."

Nanoha blinked. "Um, I don't think we've met, um…"

Hayate placed a hand on the spirit's forearm. "It's all right, Nanoha-chan. She's a friend. This is the true spirit of the Tome of the Night Sky, and as much a prisoner as we are."

Nanoha considered this and shrugged. "Hello, Tome of the Night Sky-san. I'm very pleased to meet you." She bowed in greeting.

"…" the spirit said eloquently. "Likewise?" she said, looking at Hayate in askance.

Hayate shrugged. That was Nanoha for you. "How did you find us?" she asked.

Fate gestured vaguely at empty air beside her, not looking at it. "It was actually thanks to her. She led me to the weak point of the Capture Space and told me how to open the path."

Hayate, Nanoha and the spirit frowned at her. "Her who, Fate-chan?" Hayate asked.

"Alicia-neechan," Fate said, gesturing again. "Oh, that's right, I haven't introduced you yet. Hayate-chan, this is my elder sister, Alicia Testa–" She turned and cut off, blinking and looking around quickly. "Alica-neechan? Where did you go?" She gave Hayate an abashed look. "She was right here. I don't understand where she would have gone."

Despite herself, Hayate leaned away from Fate slightly.

Nanoha pursed her lips and said hesitantly, "Fate-chan… there was no one there."

"Well, yes, she's not here _now, _butshe was a while ago," Fate said. "She led us here, remember? She told us how to break out of the Capture Space? She told us we _were_ in a Capture Space. She was standing next to us when I used Bardiche's Zanber."

Nanoha hesitated. "Fate-chan… _you_ did all those things. It was just the two of us in the Capture Space. When you woke me out of the illusion under the tree, we were alone."

Fate stared at her. "No… no, that can't be right… She… she was _there!_"

Nanoha placed her hands on Fate's shoulders. "Fate-chan_, focus!_ We can figure this out later. Right now, we need to get out of here."

Fate shook, but she nodded, though her eyes kept darting about as if she'd find what she was looking for if she moved fast enough. "Yes. Yes, you're right… we need to concentrate on that."

The spirit of the Book shook her head. "That's impossible. The outside is completely under the control of the automated defense program, corrupted even more by the taint sealed into the Book ten years ago. I've been locked out of the system."

"Can't you… I don't know, hack back in?" Nanoha asked. "Aren't there any system back doors you can use?"

The spirit shook her head again. "Even then, cut off as I am from the abilities of the Book, I con't have the processing power to circumvent any defenses the defense program has set up. As its designation states, it was originally designed to protect the system from attack and intrusion. This specialization exceeds my own abilities as I am now."

Strangely, Nanoha smiled. "How fortunate then," she said, raising her left hand, "that we have we with us one of the most powerful processors in the whole universe."

Her Power Ring glinted in the not-light…

...

"Aaaaand the city is getting destroyed again," Alisa muttered, taking her fingers out of her ears. "Nanoha is enjoying herself a little too much."

"Actually, she doesn't really _enjoy_ it," Arf said. "It's just it always seems to turn out like this."

They stood at the water's edge, the boundary of the barrier to their left as they watched the cloud of dust rising over the city. The ground had been rumbling every so often since that last pink-tinged explosion. Pillars of fire randomly dotted the empty metropolis. "They seem to be getting livelier," she commented.

Arf frowned, tilting her head. "You guys hear that?"

Alisa and Suzuka frowned, straining. Soon, they heard it too, the nearly muffled thump of an engine and what sounded like… "A helicopter?" Alisa said, confused.

From out of the night, a spotlight suddenly snapped on, bathing the area they were standing in. they shield their eyes as Arf snarled and moved to put herself in front of them, a ball of light beginning to glow in her hands. The light swung away, no longer blinding them, and allowing them to make out the form of a slick black helicopter, one obviously loaded with all sorts of explosive goodness.

"Oh, crap, it's the JSDF," Alisa said. "That means they're about to die horribly, isn't it?"

"Alisa-chan!" Suzuka rebuked. "Be nice!"

"Suzuka, they suck so much they no longer bother coming out when a giant monster steps out of the sea! People were calling it the Japan Suicide Daily Force!"

"That's a gross and unfair overgeneralization of our armed forces."

Then they had to stop and shield their eyes as the helicopter lowered itself, coming to land some yards away from them. As the engine powered down, the front-most cockpit rose, and a small figure in a tight, dark flight suit with purple accents rose and took off its helmet, letting dark purple locks come tumbling down and making Alisa wonder how the hell so much hair fit in such a small helmet. The figure waved. "Cousin Suzuka! It's me! We're here to rescue you!"

Suzuka blinked, then gasped. "Tomoyo-chan?" She began to run towards the other girl, and Alisa and Arf followed a bit more slowly.

Suzuka hugged Tomoyo as she reached the other girl. "I can't believe you're here!" she said, gawking at her cousin while the rear cockpit slid open, and three people Alisa didn't known awkwardly climbed out. "What are you doing here?"

Tomoyo laughed in that way that had always made Alisa's skin crawl. "Well, you see, this is actually a big coincidence."

"Ah!" Suzuka exclaimed, clapping her hands as she had an epiphany. "You're actually a Magical Girl too, aren't you? And you're here because Green Lantern-chan called for your help. "

"Aha ha!" Tomoyo laughed. There was more skin crawling. "Something like that. Actually, we're here to rescue you!"

"Rescue us?" Alisa said blandly. "Aren't you a bit short to be a Dark Lord of the Sith?"

To Alisa's surprise, the boy who had come out of the cockpit– why was he holding that weird board with the compass on it?– snickered, though he shot Tomoyo a cautious sideways glance. Alisa decided he was both perceptive, intelligent, and slightly suicidal.

Tomoyo turned that creepy, mysterious, saintly © smile on Alisa, who had to keep herself from stepping back. "Ah! Nice to see you again, Alisa-chan. Did you watch Star Wars recently?"

"We watched it a few days ago," Suzuka said. "I can't believe you're actually a Magical Girl, Tomoyo-chan! Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well, I'm not actually a Magical Girl," Tomoyo said. "Right now, I'm just a humble helicopter pilot. Sakura-chan is the _real_ Magical Girl!"

Alisa stared. Had that been actual _gush_ in Tomoyo's voice?

Suzaku blinked. "Sakura-chan? _The_ Sakura-chan? The one you're always telling me about, the one you want to f–"

"Yes, her," Tomoyo interrupted a bit _too_ smoothly. She clasped her hands in front of her chest, and there were stars in her eyes. "Sakura-chan is actually a super-cool Magical Girl, and she's here to help Green Lantern-chan and save the city!"

"Hoeee…. Tomoyo-chan!" the short-haired girl protested. The last girl just looked on with an amused smile.

"Someone said something about a rescue?" Alisa reminded them.

The Chinese-looking dark-haired girl grinned and extended her hand to them. "Come with us if you want to live."

In the city, a city block collapsed, and a dark form took to the air…

...

It was, when you go right down to it, a ridiculously simple application of a Power Ring's capabilities. After all, processing wasn't difficult. The difficulties lay in hardware limitations that prevented one from creating more powerful processors. All Nanoha would have needed to do was imagine one. Though she was aware that whatever she could imagine, it would pale in comparison to Ring-chan's actual capabilities.

"_Rudimentary access established,_" Ring-chan and the Spirit of the Book chorused, the latter kneeling in front of Nanoha, one hand on her ring. "_Functionality is limited, however. The automated defense program has blocked off key systems and is actively maintaining blockade._"

"Can't we circumvent them, go around them?" Nanoha asked.

"_Attempt will not succeed before dimensional rupture commences._"

"What systems _can_ we access?" Fate asked. "You said we had limited functionality. Is there any way we can make use of that?"

The spirit of the book tilted her head. "We have partial access to all Linker Core downloaded data, horology, sense input, telepathy, capture space illusions, Magic Circuit construction, Magia Erebea storage redistribution–"

"Hold it!" Nanoha said. "We have access to telepathy?"

The spirit of the Book nodded.

"We can talk to the others outside?" Nanoha pressed.

Another nod.

"Maybe we can ask for help!" Hayate said. "Eternal Sailor Moon-sama should be able to do something!"

Fate, who'd met Eternal Sailor Moon, wisely kept quiet for the sake of morale. Instead, she said, "What was that about the defense program maintaining an active blockade?"

"_The defense program is actively maintain its defense of many major systems,_" the chorus said. "_Such active defense will greatly slow any attempt at restoring control to the system administrator._"

"But why only key systems?" Nanoha asked. "Why not all?"

"The automated defense program is limited," the spirit of the Book answered. "It is actually a very rudimentary program, incapable of higher reasoning skills or emotive abilities. It's basically an independent sub routine gone rogue, similar to a human's flight or fight reflex. While it has power, it can't spread it very far. We were able to break through the blocks it wasn't maintaining with relative ease."

"Then…" Nanoha pondered. "Could we somehow make it pay more attention somewhere else, and get it to leave those systems alone so we can sneak through and take them?"

"_Feasible,_" the chorus came back as Ring-chan gave her opinion. "_But there is the complication of the 'taint'. It maintains a direct hardware connection to all systems. Unless it is removed, it can allow the defense program to maintain control of perhaps one or two systems, making full restoration in the time remaining impossible._"

"Hmm…" Hayate mused. "Can I see that Linker Core download data for a minute?"

A holographic screen appeared in front of her and Hayate quickly began to scroll down, making contemplative sounds. Suddenly, a smile broke across her face. "YES!" she cheered. "I knew it! Eternal Sailor Moon-sama _can_ save us! We need to talk to the others, quick!"

"Book of Darkness-san, how do we access the systems?" Nanoha asked, infected by Hayate's enthusiasm.

The spirit flinched.

Nanoha paused. "Book-san?"

"I will activate the relevant systems," the spirit said, not looking at Nanoha, eyes downcast.

A hand rose to her cheek. Trying to blink back tears, the spirit looked up in Hayate's gently smiling face. "It's all right. Nanoha-chan didn't mean it. Did you Nanoha-chan?" The question held the most subtle edge.

Nanoha blinked cluelessly. "What?"

Hayate giggled. "See? She means no malice by it."

"Still…" the spirit said quietly. "For all I have caused, it is a name I deserve–"

"No!" Hayate snapped. "No, you don't! You're as trapped as any of us are! You don't deserve to be called those names, do you hear me?"

"But…"

"No buts!" Hayate's tone softened, but became no less intent. "I am your mistress. You have to listen to what your mistress says."

Beneath her feet, light began to shine, and Nanoha and Fate gasped and scooted backwardly slightly as a Belkan triangle began to draw itself between the two.

"I'll give you a name," Hayate said fiercely, protectively, like she wasn't the smaller of the two. "I won't let anyone call you the 'Book of Darkness' or the 'Cursed Tome' any longer! I will _never_ call you that! I'm your administrator. I can do this."

"Mistress…" the spirit breathed.

Hayate straightened, tall and proud, and met her gaze. Softly, she kissed the spirit on one cheek, then the other. She kissed her on the forehead and finally, softly, on the lips. "In the name of the Mistress of the Night Sky, I grant you a new name. One who supports others with strength, the tailwind of fortune, the blessed air! I dub thee…_**Reinforce!"**_

Light shone.

...

The Book of Darkness flew through the night, on the defensive now, but no less frustrating for it. The few who could fly well– Yuuno, Sakura, Rider, Miyu, Gilgamesh– had been trying to herd her out of the city and out into the bay, but she was too smart for that, keeping low and fast to frustrate those following behind on slower, less agile creations of Haruna's, barely keeping in attack range. It was hard to fly and shoot at the same time, and they missed constantly, and what didn't miss struck the Book's ever-present and annoying barriers.

Yuuno only had a split second to line up his next shot when a voice in his head suddenly cried, _Um, hello? Anyone out there?_

He missed, the beam from his ring hitting nothing but air and barrier. "_Green Lantern?_"

_Yuuno-kun! Thank goodness! I'm inside the Book! Fa– er, Black Reaper-chan and the Mistress of the Book are with me! We've managed to partially hack the controls! _

"_The mistress of the Book woke up?_" Yuuno said, transmitting broadly so everyone could hear.

_Yes! Isn't it great?-! But Yuuno-kun, there's no time to explain! Everyone! Eternal Sailor Moon-sama most especially!_

"Um, me?" Eternal Sailor Moon said, riding next to Tuxedo Kamen on the Vimana.

_Eternal Sailor Moon-sama, I know you can't respond, but as soon as the Book in front of you stops in midair, I need you to hit it with the most powerful purifying attack you have! Everyone else, I need you to direct your magic towards this attack to boost it! Energy attacks only! Your Linker Core data says some of your attacks can combine with others to great more powerful effects, right?_

"W-well, I _could_, but I haven't done that in years!" Eternal Sailor Moon protested, aware that people were looking at her. "I'm not sure my Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss can combine with others, especially those who aren't Senshi, and the Silver Moon Crystal Power Kiss might be too powerful!"

As Gilgamesh stared at the absurdity of those names, another mental voice spoke out. _Um, Eternal Sailor Moon-sama? Green Lantern-chan? _Tohsaka Sakura's mental voice ventured. _I believe I have the solution. Everyone! Shoot your attacks at ME!_

"_**WHAT?-!-?-!-?-!-?-!-?-!**_" Rin exclaimed. "_**ARE YOU CRAZY?-!-?-!-?-!-?-!-?-!**_"

_Trust me, onee-sama! One last time! Everyone, please, I don't have time to explain. Green Lantern-chan, can you stop the Book when I give you the signal? _

There was a pause. _We'll need ten seconds!_

_Good enough!_

Sakura stopped dead on the air and rose, moving her above the others, and her Soei-jutsu began to trace complicated circular designs beneath her. "_**Everyone**__! Please, trust me! I need you power, now!_"

For a heartbeat, everyone stared at their respective leaders, unsure.

Negi and Eternal Sailor Moon stared at Rin.

The elder Tohsaka let out a breath and drew her Jewels. "Hit her when she says! Maximum power!"

Everyone heard a mental voice go "_Achoo!"_

The shadows finished, an enormous sigil lying beneath Sakura. For a heartbeat, Negi thought it looked vaguely familiar…

"_Now!_" Sakura cried.

"_Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss!" _

"_Mars Flame Sniper!"_

"_Jupiter Oak Evolution!"_

"_Venus Love and Beauty Shock!"_

"_Space Sword Blaster!"_

"_Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!"_

"_Deep Submerge!"_

"_Silence Glaive Surprise!"_

"_Dead… Scream…"_

"_Kilipl Astrape!"_

"_Nivis Tempestas Obscurans!"_

"_Thaumaturgical Jewel Throw!"_

"_Edelfelt Superiorly Elegant Thaumaturgical Jewel Throw!"_

"Damn it, stop copying me!"

"_Zanmaken Ni-no-Tachi! In Celebration Of My First Kiss With Maga Alba Oujo-sama Strike!_"

"Wait, that's a real attack?"

"_Sapphire Blast, Maximum Power._"

"Sapphire-chan! Put more emotion into it!"

"_Pyrofuego!"_

"_Trace, on! Ex–"_

"_Kaleido Ruby Berserker Interrupting Big Brother Kick!"_

"_Ex–"_

"_Black Archer Interrupting Saber-chan Kick!"_

"What–?"

"It's not a dramatic enough moment yet…"

The storm of spell flew up at Sakura, who hovered, waiting. Her hand snapped out, and the shadow-design at her feet began to glow.

And Negi realized _exactly_ where he knew it from.

"_Negica!_" Sakura cried. "_Magia! Erebea! _"

The attacks struck the circle… and collapsed into a single ball of energy.

"_Sinus Magnus! Stagnet! Complexio!"_

"The heck–?-!" Asuna cried. "_**HOW DOES SHE KNOW THAT?-!**_"

"You should have seen her earlier this week…" Kuro said, moving away from a glowering Saber. "She was all crazy broken…"

The power collapsed into Sakura, who raised a hand. _Now, Green Lantern-chan!_

_Got it!_

Ahead of them, the Book seemed to stutter in midair.

Sakura raised her opposite hand over her head. "_Night Sky Honeymoon Therapy Kiss!_" Power blazed in her hand

The Book swayed drunkenly, slowed.

"Sinistra Stagnans! Unisonent!"

The Book stopped dead in the air. In Sakura's other hand, an enormous ball of energy shone. She brought her hands together. Light blazed.

"_Fused Spell! Mahou! Shoujo! Ultimate! **Therapy**! **KISS**!"_

The beam of pure Truth, Love and Justice shot at the Book with power greater than any Starlight Breaker that came before… and utterly destroyed the barrier in its way as it slammed into the Book like divine retribution. It let out a scream as blackness, veined in red, was blasted out of its skin, out of its armor, out of its very being, the blackness falling into the roiling sea beneath it, leaving behind only a glowing ball of light.

Sakura, her hair bleached silver, fell from the skies, unconscious…

...

"_We are in," _Ring-chan announced even as the world around them rumbled and shook. "_Defense program's capabilities overwhelmed. All systems are now in administrator contro–_"

The ring and its wearer faded away, and there was only Hayate and the spirit of the Book.

"Reinforce… recognized as new name," the spirit said, sounding stunned. "Administrative powers have become possible…"

Hayate smiled. "Yes…"

"However, I cannot stop the defense program from going out of control. The power that was separated from my control by the taint will rampage shortly now that it has been extracted from me."

"Don't worry. We'll do something about that. Shall we go... Reinforce?"

And for the first time since this all began, Reinforce smiled. "Yes, my mistress…"

...

Rider caught Sakura long before she hit the ground. "Sakura! Sakura! Answer me!"

Sakura's eyes trembled, now-crimson eyes staring blearily at Rider. "Did it work…?"

Rider nodded, her concern over her Master obvious.

Sakura closed her eyes. "Good…" she muttered, and slipped into a doze.

Everyone else, meanwhile, was staring at the still-glowing ball.

"What's happening?" Haruna asked.

"I'm inclined to say… purification on steroids from heaven," Sailor Mars said, shielding her eyes from the glow.

"Something's coming out!" Yuuno said, pointing, deep green sunglasses on his face.

From the ball of light came two forms, one of which quickly began glowing green. They slowed and stabilized in the air.

"Green Lantern-chan! Black Reaper-chan!" Eternal Sailor Moon called out.

Nanoha waved. "You did it, everyone!"

"But… what's happening now?" Shiro asked, nursing the bruise Illya's metal-booted foot had given him.

Nanoha smiled. "Healing…"

...

"Full activation of Administrative powers."

"_I was able to slightly slow the defense program's progression before it was expelled. It will only last a few minutes, but it should give you some time before it goes berserk. Unfortunately, it is likely the 'taint' will allow it to remain fully mobile in that time._"

Hayate nodded. "All right…" Around her, four small balls of light began to glow. Such innocuous things, to represent the people she loved most in the world. "That should be plenty of time." A beat. "Return Linker Cores and rebuild Guardian Knight System."

The points of light grew brighter.

...

Outside, four Belkan triangles began to manifest, each in a different color, glowing and orbiting around the ball of light.

"That can't be a good thing," Assassin said, leveling his staff and trying not to fall off his flying manta ray.

"No…" a sleepy voice said, Sakura barely audible over the sound of Pegasus' wings. "That's _very_ good thing…"

"You know what it is, of course," Rin said, just the slightest bit acerbically.

Sakura nodded. Struggling to sit up, to see. "Rebirth…"

From the triangles, four figures rose, fully clothed and armed. Everyone immediately tensed.

A child's voice echoed softly through their minds. _Come to me, my Knights…_

The ball exploded, energy flying in opposite directions in a pillar of light. And within that pillar, at it's core, a single point of luminance resolved, a pure white Belkan triangle spinning slowly beneath it. The pillar dimmed, and only the radiance remained.

"Vita-chan!" Nanoha cried, seeing the knight floating by the light."Shamal-san!"

"Signum!" Fate called, hand tensing on Bardiche ever so slightly.

"_**You people!**_" Rin roared, reaching for her jewels.

A small tendril of shadow touched her wrist. She paused, looking back at her sister. Sakura shook her head. "Wait… please…"

Signum didn't open her eyes. "We are the guardian knights who gather before our mistress, she of the night sky."

"As long as our mistress exists, our souls will never extinguish," Shamal said.

"As long as we have life in our bodies, we will stand by each other," Zafira swore.

Vita spoke with the reverence of prayer. "We will always exist before our mistress, the Queen of the Night Sky, _Yagami Hayate!_"

The heads of the Magi rose. "Did I hear that right…?" Assassin said, memory flashing to the final battle fo the Holy Grail War.

Behind the Wolkenritter, the white sphere shattered, revealing a girl in a short black dress, wielding at long golden staff with a cross-shaped end. Gilgamesh began to gag upon seeing it. The end of the 4th Holy Grail war flashed before Saber's eyes.

"Hayate-chan!" Nanoha cried joyously.

The girl smiled and raised her staff. "_Light of the Night Sky, come to my hand! Blessed wind, Reinforce… Set Up!_"

And in Rider's arms, Sakura smiled.

Darkness began to congeal upon the golden staff, only for into erupt in rays of light. Segments of clothes began to appear on Hayate's dress. A white jacket and hat appeared on her, and her hair faded to pale blonde. Six black wings erupted from her back and she spun, posing.

The knights all turned to face her and knelt in the air, their voices solemn, worshipful, Vita most of all.

"_In days of peace, in times of war,_

"_Protect our Queen forever more!_

"_The five clouds stand, we are her Knights!"_

"_To guard Hayate, our delight!"_

"She is born," Sakura said, sounding slightly out of it. "She is born. Let the world know. Let evil tremble. Let the cry ring forth across the lands. She has come. The Destroyer of Worlds. The Hero of Justice. The Queen of the Night Sky. Regina Daemonia. She is _here! _Herald Program… end. Deleting…"

Then she yawned and blinked open her eyes. "Sorry, must have fallen asleep. What did I miss?"

"The birth of an Epic Spirit," Kuro said quietly. No one heard her.

Then for some reason, she and everyone else there sneezed.

...

Crammed in the back of Tomoyo's helicopter with Suzuka and the girl who had introduced herself as Mei Lin, Alisa glared at the light over the bay. "Darn it, why does she never introduce us to her friends! What, aren't we good enough for her?-!"

Suzuka sighed. "Alisa-chan… shut up."

...

Lindy stared at the scene before her, fingering the key to the Arc-En-Ciel. "Enforcer Harlaown, what's you ETA?"

"_I'll be there in 3 minutes, Admiral!_"

Lindy stared, at the pillars of fire rising over the city, at the people assembled nearthe light, above the enormous sphere of darkness in the water. "Please let that be soon enough," she whispered, praying for her son and daughter, praying for the strange and wonderful people of this strange and wonderful world…

...

Back at Fuyuki, Irisviel pouted as she chowed down on some Christmas fruit cake. "My daughters never take me anywhere," she wailed.

Kiritsugu wisely just nodded.

...

**- To be continued...**

...

A/N: I'm aware that the Vimana likely gets destroyed or at least heavily damaged at volume 3/episode whatever of Fate/Zero, but I believe either things return to his treasury in mint condition or he has the resources to fix it in his treasury ("Behold! I own the original vehicle repair hanger! In GOLD!"). Given this Gilgamesh's background, he'd be inclined to fix it. He's done so before, after all…

No, that wasn't from the books or anime, that was foreshadowing for later character development.

_Yeah_, the canon plan for saving Mundus Magicus involving Asuna going into yet ANOTHER coma isn't working for me, so it doesn't happen.

Saber has a Magic Cancel stat. I'm interpreting that as meaning nothing short of a High Ancient Negima Spell or anything less than Starlight Breaker– or Hayate– can affect her with damage. They'll push her around, but she's basically immune.

Suzuka's mother is Sonomi's sister. So yes, Suzuka is distantly related to Sakura as well.

The end is coming. Hopefully I'll be able to use the epilogue I've written soon…

Please review, C&C welcome.

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	28. Evening's End, Journey's End, War's End

A/N: Yeah, it's been a while. Hopefully the wait was worth it. One more epilogue to go!

...

Takamachi Nanoha of 2814

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Chapter 28: Evening's End, Journey's End, War's End

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story. If I did… well, this would all be canon. WARNING: MAY CAUSE HEAD EXPLOSION!

...

"Hayate…" Vita breathed as her eyes began to sting. "Hayate-chan?"

Crying, Vita threw her around Hayate's waist, burying her face in the girl's chest. "Hayate! Hayate! _Hayate_!"

_Hmm… Hayate smell… _Vita thought.

_Hmm… _Hayate thought, ruffling Vita's hair and taking a deep sniff. _Vita smell…_

Shamal shuffled nervously. "Um… Hayate-chan, we…"

Hayate raised a hand. "It's fine. I know what happened. Reinforce-chan told me."

The knights all blinked, Vita actually pulling away from Hayate to do this.

"Who?" Signum asked.

Hayate pointed at the Book. "Reinforce-chan. That's her new name now. Say hi, Reinforce-chan!"

There was a mental cough. _Um, hello. I'm… Reinforce. Nice to meet you…_

There was a brief awkward silence that Hayate obliviously power-smiled through.

"Um… okay…" Signum said slowly. "We're cool with that…"

Hayate nodded, smiling at her other knights. "Welcome back, everyone…"

High above them, Nanoha sniffed back a tear. "It's so sweet…" she said, dabbing at her eyes under her visor with a glowing green handkerchief. "Such a wonderful family reunion! Ah, it's the little things like this that make me glad to be a Green Lantern and Magical Girl."

Fate sweatdropped, looking over her shoulder at where Rin, Illya, Kuro, Miyu, Sailor Uranus, most of Ala Alba, and what looked like a heat-seeking missile that read 'From Tomoeda, with payback' were all caught in the giant spider web Nanoha had made. "Still, Green Lantern-chan," she said, sweatdropping, "Maybe you should let everyone go…"

"I'll make them pay for killing Archer!" Rin cried. "_**I**_ was going to do that, darn it!"

"_They hurt sensei!_" Ala Alba cried.

"They messed with my women!" Sailor Uranus cried.

Sailor Neptune sniffed. "_Someone _certainly wants to sleep in the couch tonight…"

"Can someone please point this away from me?" Miyu said, pointing at the missile next to her.

"_**MY BERSERKER DESERVES JUSTICE!**_" Illya roared. Everyone jumped, heart thumping.

Nanoha didn't even so much as flinch

Fate boggled at her. "Green Lantern-chan? You're not affected by Kaleido Ruby at all?"

"I have the ability to overcome great fear, Black Reaper-chan," Nanoha said beatifically. "It says so in my resume. Such a fear effect has no power over me."

Inwardly, she thought, _Oh, good. I managed to keep from peeing myself that time too…_

"What is this?"

The slightly cold, confused question came from above, and Nanoha turned, looking up at a bemused Chrono. "Shouldn't you be wearing a mask?" Nanoha asked, pointing at his face.

Chrono touched his face, scowled. "Look, I really don't think–"

"You do want poor Black Reaper-chan's identity to become public knowledge just because you're too lazy to wear five square inches of fabric?" Nanoha pressed. "Think of what the media could do if they found out you're–"

"All right, all right, I'll put on a stupid mask!" Chrono roared, making a gesture and adding it to his Barrier Jacket. "Happy?"

Nanoha blinked at him behind her visor. "Why would I be happy? The automated defense program is close to going berserk."

Chrono strangled a scream and pretended it was Nanoha. "Well, shouldn't we be _doing_ something? After all, aren't you responsible for this planet?"

Nanoha gave him a scandalized look. "And ruin such a beautiful family reunion?"

Chrono looked at them. Hayate, for lack of a better word, was apparently molesting Vita's hair. "I think you should arrest them for public indecency."

Nanoha frowned. "Why? They have their clothes on…"

Chrono facepalmed. Of all the things she'd know about…

Nanoha turned to her prisoners. "Now, if you all promise to calm down, I'll let you go. I'm sorry, but as a member of the Green Lantern Corp, I cannot allow you to harm my prisoners. They are under my protection!"

"They killed Archer!" Rin roared.

"Um," Shiro said hesitantly, "didn't Archer say in his video will that they _didn't_ kill him–?"

"Oh, will you _PLEASE_ stop remembering every little thing!" Rin snapped.

"_**They**_ _**killed Berserker!**_" Illya roared. Everyone promptly had a panic attack. Even the Wolkenritter reunion party looked up, though Hayate didn't stop feeling up Vita's head. "_**I want JUSTICE!**_"

"Okay," Nanoha said.

Illya blinked, abruptly derailed. "Huh?" she said, back at her normal tone.

"I'll see that justice is served," Nanoha said. "If they murdered Berserker, than they will be charged appropriately."

"_Point of order,_" Ring-chan said. "_Entity 'Berserker' released his 'Linker Core' voluntarily. At worst, the Wolkenritter are accessories to suicide._"

Illya stared at the Power Ring. "W-what?"

"_I was there,_" Ring-chan said. "_I was forcibly hijacked off my assigned Green Lantern and–_"

Nanoha slapped a hand on top of her ring. "We'll discuss this later. Right now, we need to deal with the current problem. Now, please behave."

"Everyone, do as Green Lantern says," Negi said as sternly as he could. The girls groaned, but nodded.

Sailor Neptune gave Sailor Uranus a look of womanly disapproval, but the look she and the other Outers directed at the Wolkenritter were hardly any better. Still, they remained silent, and Sailor Uranus grumbled something that sounded vaguely affirmative. Miyu just followed Illya's lead.

"Does anyone know who this missile belongs to?" Nanoha asked.

"I think it belongs to Tomoyo-san," Luvia said.

Nanoha blinked. "Tomoyo-san has a missile?"

"It likely came with her attack helicopter," Negi suggested.

Blink. "Tomoyo-san has an attack helicopter?"

Chrono sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I miss Mid-Childa…"

...

"Ah!" Hayate exclaimed as Nanoha, Yuuno and Fate approached. Vita tensed, while Signum's hand instinctively dropped to her blade. "Nanoha-chan, Fate-chan, I'm really sorry. My girls have caused you so much trouble…" She grabbed Vita's nose in chastisement.

"Ow! Ah, I get it Hayate-chan, I'll be good, I'll be good!" Vita whined.

Zafira coughed.

"Oh, yes, and Zafira-kun too!"

Zafira slumped. "Why am I mentioned like some kind of extemporaneous add-on?"

Yuuno debated it, and decided this sort of problem crossed all legal boundaries and into pure Bro Code. He patted the Guardian Beast on the back in commiseration. "Don't worry, I get treated like that all the time. It'll pass. Eventually they'll remember you're there…"

Zafira gave him a nearly pathetic look. "Really?"

Yuuno nodded. "Sure," he said, then conscientiously amended, "Most of the time. Probably."

They both slumped down in despair and sighed.

Nanoha, meanwhile, was answering Hayate with an easy laugh, waving a hand dismissively. "Not at all!" she said. "It's fine…"

Behind her, several glares said otherwise.

"By the way, I have to place you guys under arrest, since you guys did do a lot of illegal stuff after all," Nanoha said off-handedly.

Vita tensed. Signum's hand began to drift towards her sword again…

"Oh, sure, that's fine," Hayate said breezily. "Now Vita-chan, if we go to prison, you'll be my bitch, okay?"

Vita head snapped around so fast she nearly had whiplash.

"Okay then, it's settled," Nanoha said, clapping happily. "You're under arrest. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney…"

"Green Lantern-chan," Chrono said with stretched patience. "While I understand your devotion to your duties, can we leave your recitation for a time when we're not under a time limit?"

Next to Hayate, the Tome of the Night Sky clicked. She frowned at it, puzzled.

By now, Sakura was recovering, managing to sit up straight on Pegasus' back. Nanoha, seeing this, helpfully created a large platform for them to land on, then expanded it so that everyone else could step off their flying mantas. Her armor had collapsed when she'd lost consciousness, leaving her in the clothes she'd started in, albeit with her hair bleached pale silver and her eyes still crimson.

Rin, after a fierce glare at the Wolkenritter, turned and stomped to her sister, giving her a quick once-over. "Well, you're not dead or burned out," she said, making it clear she considered the latter the worse fate. "Don't do that again!"

Sakura blushed. "Yes, onee-chan…" Straightening, she turned towards Hayate. "Um, excuse me, but I couldn't help but notice that you bear a coincidental resemblance to someone we met recently who's no longer with us, and I was wondering if you knew anything about it?"

Hayate blinked in befuddlement. "Huh?"

"I knew it!" Illya cried, still in her normal tones. "I knew it wasn't just me! You think there's a connection between _this_ Yagami Hayate and the other one too, right?"

Sakura blinked, turning to Illya. "Her name's Yagami Hayate too? Wow, that's a REALLY big coincidence."

"Oh, coincidences don't mean anything," Eternal Sailor Moon chimed in as Tuxedo Kamen helped her off the Vimana, which Gilgamesh wasn't deigning to allow to land. "Back when we were starting out, we coincidentally kept meeting these blond guys who all looked like each other, and whose names all kinda sounded the same. But it wasn't really anything."

Sailor Mercury sweatdropped. "Um, Sailor Moon, those guys were all Jadeite. Every single one of them."

It was Gilgamesh's turn to stare at her so fast they _literally_ heard something crick. "What?-!"

Eternal Sailor Moon blinked. "Really? It wasn't just a freaky coincidence?"

Sailor Mercury and Tuxedo Kamen shook their heads.

"Then maybe it's not just a coincidence after all!" she gasped, turning to Sakura.

Lancer leaned to Luvia. "This is the leader of the forces that protect your country against evil?"

"It's not _my_ country," Luvia denied. "But, yeah. I'm sort of surprised it's still standing…"

"What are you implying?-!" Vita demanded, hefting her mallet. People tensed.

Hayate reached over and grabbed Vita's nose. "Vita-chan! Bad Vita-chan! Good girls don't threaten people like that!"

"Ow! Hayate-chan!" Vita protested nasally.

"Is that really the smartest way to treat a powerful, battle-hardened knight?" Assassin said, sweatdropping.

Rin turned to glare at him.

Assassin sighed. "Never mind…"

"A-_**HEM!**_" Chrono coughed. "I hate to rain on this parade, but we have more immediate matters to attend to. The discarded defense program will go berserk soon. There's not much time. We have to stop it by any means necessary!"

"Oh god, it's happening again!" Sailor Venus cried, clutching at Sailor Jupiter. "We're going to need to die again, aren't we? I'm going to die a virgin! Again!"

Nanoha blinked. "What's a virgin?"

"ASK YOUR MOTHER!" Yuuno, Fate and Chrono cried.

Negi frowned. "But, what's—?"

"DON'T THINK ABOUT IT!-!-!-!-!-!" Ala Alba chorused.

Sailor Venus turned to Negi. "Erebus-kun, comfort m-!"

"LIKE HELL, BITCH!-!-!-!" Sailor Saturn, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Pluto, and Ala Alba all cried.

Chrono closed his eyes, counted to ten, and decided that he still shouldn't kill all the annoying Earth people. "Right now, there are two plans to stop it." He held up a card. "The first is to use extremely powerful freezing magic."

Fate frowned "That seems a bit… underwhelming."

"It's REALLY extremely powerful freezing magic," Chrono said. "It's so extreeme, in fact, it's misspelled."

"What's the second one?" Nanoha asked.

"The second is to use the main cannon on our warship, the _Asura, _on standby in orbit," Chrono said.

Nanoha brightened. "Ooh, let's do that one!"

"Who's surprised, show of hands?" Yuuno said. No one did.

"Does anyone else have any alternatives?" Chrono finished.

"Um, the first one will be difficult," Shamal said, raising her hand as if she were in class. Negi almost felt compelled to check his attendance book. "As it is, the defense program is a mass of condensed magic."

"Even frozen in such a manner, that will not stop its reincarnation cycle as long as its core is intact," Signum added.

"Using your ship's cannon is no good either!" Vita cried, making a negative gesture by crossing her arms. "If you fire it in a place like this, Hayate-chan's house will be caught by the blast!"

Hayate sweatdropped. "Vita-chan, please don't prioritize things like that…"

Nanoha frowned. "But, won't it be contained by the barrier?"

_No, _Reinforce said from inside Hayate. _An Arc-En-Ciel is a Time-Space distorting attack. It will destroy any barrier in its sights, and has an area of effect kilometers wide. Trust me, I'd know. I've been shot by one enough times. _

Nanoha blanched. "No using that weapon!" she declared vehemently. "Not on _my_ planet! Not when _I'm _not the one using it! I don't want to have to file a planetary extinction report!"

"They have those?" Yuuno said, alarmed.

"Okay, show of hands!" Leader Red cried. "All against using the orbital death ray?"

It was unanimous after the concept of a death ray was explained to the Servants.

"The captain doesn't want to use it either," Chrono said. "But if that thing goes berserk, it will kill more people than the cannon will, devouring all mass that it touches before it goes critical and takes the planet with it."

"I have to wonder who in ancient Belka thought making something like that was a good idea…" Yuuno said.

"There must be something else we can do!" Negi said.

"If we turn my Excalibur on it…" Saber volunteered. "I believe one shot would be enough to annihilate it completely…"

"Maybe I can purify it with the Ginzoushou," Eternal Sailor Moon suggested. "The Ginzoushou fixes everything!"

"That...might actually work…" Sailor Mercury said as she took her readings of the phenomenon below.

"I'm pretty sure you're contractually obligated to give us a shot at it first," Sailor Mars said.

"_All right, everyone,"_ Amy said from the Asura. "_We have about twenty minutes before it reaches critical mass— no, sorry, twenty five… wait, what?"_

"Amy?" Chrono prompted, concerned.

"_Something's wrong,_" Amy said. There was frantic typing in the background. "_The defense program is altering… it… it's gaining __**mass!"**_

"Your Majesty!" Gilgamesh cried, looking over the edge of the Vimana, which he hadn't left. "Something is happening!"

They looked down at the churning sea below. The slightly purple-tinted black sphere in the water, surrounded by several enormous tentacle-like appendages was roiling, as it something was boiling it from within. Crimson streaks were apparent on the surface, and flickers of nauseating purple lightning beneath showed disturbing outlines of monstrous body parts.

"Is that…?" Saber said, aghast.

"It's the mud from within the Holy Grail," Gilgamesh confirmed. "It's somehow forcing materialization of the base-mana of the program."

All those who'd been involved in the Holy Grail War paused to stare at him at this comment.

"What?" he demanded. "I predate your vaunted age of gods by an order of magnitude. Such simple deductions about magic are child's play." He paused. "Besides, it's the same thing that happened to me at the end of the 4th War."

"_The defense program is no longer developing as predicted!" _Amy reported. "_Though at the rate of energy conversion, I think you have at least thirty minutes before its dimensional distortions begin to catastrophically affect the planet outside of the barrier!"_

"What a conveniently round number," Yuuno said.

"Fa– er, Black Reaper-chan!" a voice cried, a call that was echoed in telepathy.

"Ar– er…" Fate grasped wildly. "Um… what was it again…? Oh, yes…! Familiar Girl!"

"Hey!" Arf cried as Sakura and Syaoran followed behind her flying on a winged pink staff. "I thought we agreed on 'Sexy Crimson Fang'?"

"Th-that's hardly appropriate…" Fate said, sweatdropping.

"Looks very appropriate to me…" Lancer commented approvingly, looking Arf up and down in appreciation. Zafira wondered if he could get away with kicking him off the platform.

Nanoha expanded the platform and Arf, Sakura and Syaoran touched down. It had been a while since she'd used The Fly Card in this configuration, but she still managed it. Arf gave Fate quick once-over as the blonde hastily gave her a quick telepathic rundown, and turned a glare at Zafira, but didn't attack the Wolkenritter.

As Syaoran turned a jaundiced look at the autographed missile Nanoha had set to one side before glaring at the Wolkenritter, Sakura looked around, intimidated. "G-green Lantern-chan," she reported. "Um, those two girls are safe with Tomoyo-chan, and she's flying them away as far from the fighting as she can."

"Thank you, Sakura-san," Green Lantern said, and Sakura blushed and bowed, muttering about how it was no problem.

"What, we're not calling her Fetishistic Mask Girl?" Haruna said, before Yue kicked her in the ankle. "Ow! Metal boots, metal boots!"

"Back to the matter at hand," Chrono said. "We need to find a solution!"

"Perhaps if we moved the defense program?" Hayate suggested. "If we lure it farther out to sea, we might be able to fire the canon without harming anyone…"

Nanoha brightened. "That's it, Hayate-chan! That's the answer! We'll move it away to where it won't hurt people if it goes off. I'll just throw it into the sun!"

There was a pause.

"_**EEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHH?-?-?-?-?-?**_" everyone chorused.

"You can do a convenient thing like that?" Vita said.

Nanoha puffed up her chest proudly (Fate tried not to stare). "Of course! My power ring can do anything I can imagine! It's easy to imagine throwing it into the sun!"

"If it's so simple, perhaps you can just move the program into space, where we can fire the Arc-En-Ciel safely?" Chrono suggested.

Nanoha deflated slightly. "Well, I suppose we can do that too… sounds kind of boring, though…"

"Don't worry, you've just jinxed it," Illya said. "Now it's sure to somehow go completely wrong, no matter what…"

"Regardless, we'd still need to break through the defense program's defenses," Hayate said. "According to Reinforce-chan, if the program is even slightly capable of launching a magical attack, Green Lantern-chan won't be able to maintain the integrity of whatever she'll be using to send it into space."

"It'll also be best if we try to whittle it down…" the older Sakura said quietly, Rider helping her stand as she looked down below. "We can't really be sure what effect the Grail Taint would have on this thing…"

"It's an insane plan," Chrono said. "Basically, we throw it into space to shoot it? Insane." He sighed. "So, it should work right around here…"

"Amen…" Vita muttered.

"What's the attack strategy, then?" Rin asked, eager to have something to take her frustrations out on.

_The defense program's barrier is composed of several layers of physical and magical protection,_ Reinforce said. _First, we have to destroy those._

"It likely has more," Illya said. "Did you see all those crazy barriers it was throwing up through its fights?"

_Technically, those would be __**my**__ barriers, _Reinforce said, _but I see your point. Assuming it has more, we need to find a way to break through them, no matter how many it manages to raise…_

"It was using Rho Aias," Kuro said. "Let _me _worry about piercing it's defenses…"

"After we destroy its defenses, we extract it from its location and have Green Lantern-chan send it into space," Fate said.

"We'll need to expose its core," Signum added. "It's the only way to guarantee it's been hit. Otherwise, it might just regenerate, even with the damage inflicted by a ship's main canon. "

"How do we do that?" the younger Sakura asked, looking uncertain.

"The old-fashioned way," Signum said, touching her sword. The younger Sakura looked confused, but the others nodded their comprehension.

_I've analyzed the combat data the Wolkenritter have compiled in their encounters with you, as well as the proficiencies you have shown when attacking the defense program while it had me overridden. This is my proposition,_ Reinforce said…

...

"Such a powerful weapon, that ring is…" Lindy muttered, smiling slightly. "Can it really be done?"

Amy was crunching the numbers. "We don't have enough data to say for sure. We definitely know that Nanoha's ring has so far been able to accomplish everything she's made it do unless it was being directly attacked by magic, and we saw how it dismantled the Garden of Time, so I suppose it's possible…"

"You want to see it too, huh?"

"Oh, _yeah_. How often do we see something get thrown into the sun?"

"Amy, we're shooting it, not sending it to the sun."

There was a massive "Awwwww…!" of disappointment from the bridge crew as Lindy sighed in commiseration. That would have been _so_ cool to see…

"Begin charging the Arc-En-Ciel!" Lindy commanded.

...

Illya's sudden cry of surprise in the middle of their discussion warned them.

They were still talking deployment when the dark-armored girl— "Aren't you cold in that?" the younger Sakura asked— let out a sudden cry of warning. Below them, pillars of red and purple-veined dark energy had suddenly erupted around the sphere of darkness that was the defense program, the water around it already roiling with what looked like dark tentacles.

"What's happening?" Eternal Sailor Moon wailed, clinging to Tuxedo Kamen.

"Looks like big, black and nasty is waking up earlier than expected!" Assassin said, keeping his balance with supernatural ease (to his own great surprise), and keeping Nodoka from falling.

"Scatter!" Haruna cried, leaping off the platform and onto a flying manta as the world shook, the area with the barrier disrupted. That done, she sent out other mantas for people to jump onto as Rider took flight with her Master. The people from Fuyuki leapt at the mantas fearlessly, Illya grabbing the missile off the platform. The Sailor Senshi leapt onto the Vimana, Gilgamesh yelling at them to watch the finish, it was gold, darn it!

_"This is bad!"_ Amy cried. _"It shouldn't be going berserk yet!"_

"Gee, imagine that," Asuna said blandly. "Things happening before we're ready. Wow."

"Now Red-chan, nobody likes a smartass," Konoka said cheerfully. "Besides, Calculator-chan will be annoyed at you for stealing her thing."

Nanoha brought up a shield, the emerald barrier snapping up between them. "Everyone, remember the plan!" she called out. The water below heaved violently as the sphere began to tremble. With a scream, the sphere burst.

The defense program was enormous, an absolute monster. Crimson veins spider-webbed across its taint-blackened chitinous hide, which looked like it had been cobbled together by putting together chop shop parts of random kaijuu. Three pairs of wings that seemed both feathery and insectile sprouted from its armored carapace of a back. Two thickly armored pairs of legs jutted from its side, and even more heavily armored, enormously clawed forelegs grasped on either side of its head. At less three set of horns and two pairs of tusks surrounded a mouth with teeth like swords and big enough to swallow a bus whole. On the top of its head, in the middle of a wildly writhing black ruff, rose a prominent spike from which stood, like a ship's figurehead, the nude, dead-black and red-veined form of a woman, silvery hair streaming from the top of her wing-eared head, her crimson eyes as flat and lifeless as a shark's. In the waters around it, tentacles and serpentine coils writhed angrily. It roared, tentacles and coils rising and charging with energy. Beams of energy lashed towards the group, who still haven't managed to disperse completely.

Asuna roared, charging forward and throwing herself into the paths of the beams. "Anti-magic, FULL OPEN!" she cried, invisible ripples erupting around her in all directions. The beams, and the manta she'd jumped from simply ceased to be, entering her zone on total magic cancellation.

That bought everyone the time they needed.

_NOW!_ cried Yuuno. _Bind it! "Struggle Bind!"_

_"Chain Bind!"_

"_Restriction, Steel Yoke!"_

_"Aer Capturae!" _

"_Venus Love Me Chain!"_

Chains of gold and magic joined tendrils of air as they lashed out, entangling the coils and tentacles, outright severing some as the Defense Program tried to move. Green and orange chains spun and simple web in the air, latching on to limbs and anchoring themselves into glowing skyborne sigils as Asuna fell into the water, spluttering, Setsuna diving down to retrieve her.

"Its barriers are multi-layered!" Sailor Mercury called out from the Vimana, fingers dancing over her computer. "Picking up 6 layers… no, 9… no, 14… it keeps adding more!"

"Add all it wants!" Gilgamesh roared, a strangely-shaped device in his hands. He raised it over his head. "No power can withstand my treasures. _Noble Phantasm! __**GATE OF BABYLON!**_"

A delicate crimson tracery shot into the air, growing upward and outward like an inverted mountain, growing in complexity into a wall of delicate lines, seeming almost like circuitry. It dissolved, and suddenly the sky filled with glowing light as behind Gilgamesh a seemingly endless wall of glowing circles came to life, and from each disc extruded a single perfect, beautiful weapon. "Be ended by the Treasury of Uruk, the Legacy of a Kingdom that spanned the stars!"

Prototype Noble Phantasms began to fall, a radiant, glowing rain of light.

Everyone stopped, staring at the glory of it all. Even Saber, her soul tinted by the Grail's darkness, found it in her to gasp in awe and wonder. Facing Gilgamesh as she had in the last War, and the chaos of their recent battles with each other, she had never had time to appreciate how _beautiful_ it was. It seemed an endless waterfall of gold simply appearing from out of the night, a rushing river that only hinted of the endless flood behind it.

"Whoa…" Shiro breathed, his eyes seeing only a tiny fraction of every sword, yet knowing he looked upon weapons that rivaled Excalibur in glory and power.

The very air around the Defense Program shattered a thousand times over as its barriers stood against the punishing rain of destruction. It was a battle of overwhelming force and immovable object, and the object wasn't as immovable as it seemed. Multi-colored barriers in many forms– domes, plains, interlocking hexagons– shattered like glass. Layer after layer broke before the seemingly endless onslaught.

"It can't be this easy," Illya said, hanging upside down from the manta Kuro was on.

"_**Silent Wall…**_"

The invisible shield sprang into place as the last barrier fell, stopping the golden stream like a dam.

"I'm really coming to _loathe_ that spell," Yuuno said, one eyebrow twitching.

"You're just pissed you don't have a shield that tough," Arf said dryly, then yelped as the Defense Program seemed to spasm, the movement jerking their binding chains. It convulsed its entire body, shearing off the binds on it with pure mass.

"_**Trace… On…**_"

Kuro began to swear as the air behind the invisible barrier still holding off Gilgamesh' stubborn attack began to ripple. From out of the air congealed swords, hundreds of swords, each, to Kuro's exacting eye, _almost_ as good as the ones Gilgamesh was throwing. The shield dropped as the swords flashed forward, slamming to Gilgamesh's attack and causing mutual annihilation, it took three seconds for even an untrained eye to see that Gilgamesh was going to be overwhelmed by sheer output. Gilgamesh roared, summoning shields from his treasury, trying to change tactics as Eternal Sailor Moon cried out and clung to Tuxedo Kamen, but even his own shields were destroyed by multiple hits, slowing the inevitable.

He was serving as an admirable distraction, however.

"_Fire!_" Chrono commanded.

"Create Construct!" Green Lantern cried as glowing shapes of green light came into being around her. "_Emerald Danmaku!"_

The hundreds of spheres of green plasma descended like rain, slamming into token barriers and detonating explosively. The air was filled with a roar.

"Show off…" Vita said sourly as she sent _Schwalbe Fliegen._

"_Thunder Blade!" _Fate cried, sending her on glowing electric swords.

"Sapphire!" Miyu called, beginning to swing her wand. "Full penetration abilities! Maximum point concentration! Maximum power!" She swung. "_Armor Piercing Shot!"_

"_Jovis Tempestas Fulguriens!_" Negi and Yue cast simultaneously.

"_Approach from beyond, mistletoe branches, and become spears of the silver moon! Pierce it!_" Hayate cast. "_Stone Spears, MISTELTEIN!_"

A wave of magical energy slammed into the Defense Program's flank from them and others, tearing apart its form and causing it to roar, turning its attention towards them, though the barrage towards Gilgamesh didn't relent. The King of Heroes was down on one knee, clearly strained by the effort of maintaining his attack.

The counter-attack was swift and nearly killed them all.

The defense program screamed.

It wasn't a bestial cry of fury, but rather a high, keening cry, a note of pain drawn out and sustained. It slammed into them and seemed to tear at their very minds as they let out their own cries. A few wobbled from where they were standing, in very real danger of falling to their deaths as a sonic boom suddenly rang through the air. Gilgamesh's attack faltered as he was forced to clamp his hands over his ears, even as Sailor Uranus, blood trickling from her ears, threw herself at the control throne and barely got the Vimana out of the way of the oncoming swords that suddenly had nothing to stop them.

Nanoha tried to cover her ears with her hands, an exercise made awkward by the fact she was still holding Raging Heart, when suddenly there was only dead silence and a phantom ringing in her ears.

"_Incapacitation-type sustained aural attack countermeasure protocols initiated," _her ring announced._ "White noise generation commenced. Alert! Massive counter attack imminent!"_

_"Auto Guard," _Raging heart announced helpfully as a circular shield appeared in front of Nanoha as the sound dropped to bearable levels, fluctuating strangely but no longer debilitating.

She didn't have time to recover from the ringing in her brain, or try to make sense of Amy's frantic cries through the open communications link. She forced her mind to coherence, to take in the situation and respond even as the Defense Program redirected its rain of swords at the now incapacitated targets, all still reeling and clutching at their ears in pain. "Ring! Auto track and respond! Anti-weapons fire, charged plasma projectiles, FIRE!"

Gun constructs like Artoo-Deetoo with machine guns stuck in front surrounded her and began blazing away, shooting down the copied Noble Phantasms with absolute ruthlessness as Nanoha honed her mind and _willed_ the protection of the people around her, _willed_ her constructs to shoot fast enough, move quickly enough, and track each projectile moving towards someone perfectly and shoot it down. Her constructs might break under sustained magic, but they didn't have to last long. Just long enough to get the copied weapons to detonate and explode.

Suddenly large circular shields snapped into being, protecting clusters of the people around them. Nanoha picked out Yuuno, face twisted and still pained but wearing a pair of glowing green construct earmuffs. His brow was knit in concentration, and she realized the barriers were magic, not constructs. Not for the first time, she felt envious of her partner. Ah, to be like him. Her skills with magic mostly lay in shooting and hurting people. She wished she were like Yuuno, able to use her magic to heal and protect so many so seemingly effortlessly.

She hardened her grip on Raging Heart, and felt uncannily aware of her ring, burning around her finger, her constructs, sending shaped will in all directions. Ah, well. She'd just have to protect everyone another way.

Her anti-missile fire and Yuuno's shields gave others the time to recover a little, to try to fight through it. The cry was too debilitating to be mere sound. It was some kind of magical attack...even though it sounded like a crybaby bawling her lungs out. The green-haired Ala Alba girl was already moving, thrusters jets erupting from her back and legs as she dived to recover a few who'd fallen from their mounts, leaving a glowing contrail behind her as she flew downwards.

"_Silent Card!"_

The sudden cry that cut through the scream followed a total, unnatural silence. Nanoha turned to see Sakura— the younger— wings on her back and clutching her wand with a glowing circle beneath her feet, a woman standing in midair next to her. The woman held her finger to her lips in a hushing gesture. Nanoha raised an arm to wave her thanks… when suddenly proximity alerts exploded across her visor, all of which amounted to "LOOK OUT!".

Nanoha dodged frantically, even as a dark energy flashed through the space where she'd been. She spun in the air, snapping up pink and green shield that shattered on impact but bought her time to get out of the way.

With the sonic attack nullified, others were rallying, finding their balance on the mantas and facing the new threat. Nanoha let out a soundless cry as she sent Divine Busters at the tentacles shooting the energy, tracking data appearing over her visor as data flew between Ring-chan and Raging Heart. She saw others reacting with deadly swiftness. Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune fought together on the _Vimana'_s deck, one covering the other. Erebus floated in midair, moving with literally-lightning quick reflexes, too fast to be hit. Saber, Black Archer and Lancer held their ground, swatting away the blasts as best as they could with their weapons, though the way their sleeves smoked showed that they weren't coming out of this completely unscathed as Kaleido Sapphire protected her other teammates as best as she could. The sky flashed, soundless lightnings snapping forth, and soundless balls of light—

_We've lost the initiative, _Reinforce said, voice level and calm even as she helped Hayate direct a storm-like swarm of blazing white Divine Busters around her. _We need to redirect fire back at the Defense Program._

_Everyone, brace yourselves! _Nanoha warned. _Sakura-san, whatever you did, you need to undo it! We need to hear it coming—!_

Just like that, sound rushed back as if someone had flicked a switch, and some people flinched, surprised at the sudden loudness. The Defense Program was still screaming shrilly—

_"Voice Card!"_

— and then fell mercifully silent.

"Sorry!" Nanoha heard Sakura call. "Should have thought of that earlier!"

"Useful girl," Chrono mused, them swore.

Below them, the Defense Program was spreading enormous wings, the edges extended by glowing magic. Slowly, it began to lift from the water, trailing innumerable tentacles…

"_GRAVITAS!"_

Nanoha felt her stomach lurch as gravity abruptly went away, leaving a momentary sense of nausea, one that doubled as gravity came back. The Defense Program suddenly pitched to the side as if horrendously unbalanced, one side slamming back into the water. There was a wheeze as Assassin fell to his knees on his ride, clearly spent, and Rin swayed slightly at the sudden loss of prana.

"Durandal," Chrono said, raising his new device. "Let's do this."

"_Okay, Boss,"_ Durandal said in a deep, vaguely mafia-ish voice.

"_Permafrost, construct a frozen coffin and deliver eternal sleep unto this beast,"_ Chrono incanted solemnly as a circle appeared beneath him, snow suddenly coming together out of the air as the temperature began to plummet like a rock. "_Freeze! ETERNAL COFFIN!"_

The water around the Defense Program exploded outward in ice as the temperature dropped well below freezing. Frost crept up its body, covering its limbs. The tips of some extremities shattered as cold overcame them, others shattering as the program tried to continue moving.

"_The Program is down!_" Sailor Mercury reported. "Fire at will!"

They obliged.

"_EXCELION BUSTER!_" Nanoha shot, her attack cry becoming lost in the sudden deafening explosion of light and sound as people stopped holding back. Copied and Prototype Noble Phantasms fell like rain as Kuro, Shiro, Gilgamesh and Hayate opened fire, everyone's hair standing on end as Sailor Jupiter, Fate, and Magus Erebus let loose with everything they had, the air becoming ionized. Signum, her sword and sheath now a bow, sent fiery arrow after fiery arrow. Illya threw the missile she'd grabbed from the platform like a spear, its form already warped into something resembling a demonic javelin, exploding with a strangely thermonuclear blaze on impact as Yuuno's shields blocked the Program's attempts to retaliate. Pieces of the defense program shattered, exploded, plunging into the sea. The black sludge over the water, partly frozen, partly liquid, erupted in flames, seeming to scream like the damned.

_Damn it!_ Amy's voice cried, panicked. _The progression's rate has altered again! You need to send that up here immediately! The progress has accelerated, it's about to go berserk any minute!_

"_Yuuno! Arf! Shamal-san! Zafira-san!" _Nanoha called out, sending shot after shot of antimatter plasma from her constructs at the Defense Program, breaking off physical aspects and exposing more and more of a sickly purple light. "_Prepare the teleport!_"

The body of the defense program shattered, and from its ruined torso came a dark mass of pulsating flesh, a chaotic, unspeakable, blasphemous, unholy, Lovecraftian, Meyeresque monstrosity of eyes, fangs, nostrils, horns and what looked vaguely like a glans until the slit parted to reveal rows of shark-like teeth. Tohsaka Sakura shivered, barely suppressing a mewl as tentacles erupted, prompting various cries of distress as instinctive Magical Girl reactions came up. Surrounded in fire and ice, the Defense Program, still muted by what Sakura had done, fuzzed, became an indistinct cloud of darkness as onlookers hearts began to pound in unnatural fear even as it seemed to fade away.

"_**NO!**_" Illya roared, dropping down almost to sea level, nearly invisible herself in the gloom. "_**No, darn it! I won't let you! GREEN LANTERN! **__**LIGHT!**_"

Nanoha snapped up her ring, bathing the area Defense Program in harsh, pure green light. It appeared in stark relief, no longer fading but still unnaturally vague in its outline. The attackers, tired but still determined, poured it on, but it was obvious they were weakening. Shiro was holding Saber back, keeping her from using her sword again, and Negi was down to weaker spells, most of his students already exhausted. Kuro had collapsed, exhausted as a reluctant Miyu flew to her to renew her prana. Only Hayate, Gilgamesh and the Senshi's attacks hadn't slackened, but they were spread thin, and even Gilgamesh was swaying, nearing his limits as well.

"_No! We're running out of time!" _Amy cried. "_Dimensional distortions are rising. It will break the barrier soon! Leakages are already causing tremors on the outside!"_

"_It won't stop regenerating!"_ Chrono snapped back as Sakura stared, horror-struck. "_Freezing it isn't enough!"_

Shadows writhed in Green Lantern's light as the Defense Programmed continued to rebuild itself even as it prepared to destroy itself and everyone around it once more. It began tracing patterns in the ice and water, creating a gigantic circle, its inside sketched with runes.

"_It's using Negica Magia Erebea!" _Hayatecalled out as Negi stared in horror at the sight of his own creation beginning to absorb his spells. _"Switch to mass attacks! Someone disrupt the circle!"_

Suddenly there was a roar, and from out of the dark the long, shark-slick form of a missile flew, slamming into the Defense Program's hide and detonating with blinding brilliance. Syaoran, panting, spun from where he was floating on a manta close to Sakura, staring towards land. "_Daidouji!"_

"_Ah, I hope I'm not interrupting," _ the innocent voice could be heard over loud speaker as the slight sounds of Meilin, Alisa and Suzuka scrunched up in the cockpit echoed softly, more missiles and other similarly modern weapons of mass destruction flying by as she spoke, all detonating with eye-searing light. "_But it seemed like you needed a little help. I'm SO sorry about the tactical atomic missile that got loose earlier, I really MUST check my weapon's system when I get home._"

Syaoran rolled his eyes at the blatant lie. "Oh, please…" he muttered.

The Defense Program heaved as it threw itself to the side, tentacles and assorted limbs extruding from its pulsating flesh as it tried to move away.

_Bind it! Bind it! Green Lantern-chan, keep it in place! _Amy was calling

"_I'm trying!"_Nanoha called even as she, Yuuno, Arf, Zafira, Shamal, Sailor Venus and Hayate did what they could, but it had learned. Limbs and points on the beast that they managed to anchor down broke of, allowing it to keep moving, preventing them from concentrating their attacks on any one place, much less the core.

"_I CALL THE BONE IN YOUR SWORD!" _Black Archer's voice cried out. She stood proudly on her manta, while next to her Kaleido Sapphire sat with her eyes closed, clearly exhausted, cheeks flushed. _"Soft is my body, calling the fire in your blood! I have created over a thousand lolicons!"_

"Does she realize the words that are coming out of her mouth?" Chrono said, too thrown to be aghast.

"Everyone on this planet is crazy," Vita asserted.

Kuro leapt, letting gravity bring her to the defense program, not ceasing in her… questionable… aria. "_Unknown to thermodynamics, regardless of physics, I SCREW REALITY WITH MY FREUDIAN BLADES!"_

"Yuuno-kun, what does—?"

"Ask your mother, Green Lantern-chan," Yuuno said tiredly.

_"For my flesh burns with unfulfilled desire! And thus I sublimate… __**UNLIMITED BLADE WORKS!"**_

Flame burst into being beneath her just before she hit the ground, the world changing around them all into a field of blades, a sky filled with gears and thousands of rifts glowing in rainbow hues, in glowing light of dusk— or was it dawn?— as flower petals floated but never fell. A cry and a gesture from Kuro, and every sword on the ground ripped themselves free, rising into the air. Another cry and gesture, and suddenly the swords fell like rain on the monstrosity, even as more materialized above to take their place.

In the heat of the moment, Gilgamesh missed the fact many of the weapons were copies of his treasures.

The swords, spears and knives— really, it was all a matter of size— plain, Noble Phantasm or Prototype, tore the Defense Program apart in a rain of light, ripping chunks out of its mass. It tried to retaliate, but copies of _Ensis Exorcizans_ kept neutralizing the blasts as Kuro's knees shook.

"Need… more… Mana!" Kuro choked out. "Can't… use Unlimited…"

Abruptly, she fell to the ground, the battlefield disappearing, and Kuro fell into the freezing cold water.

"Black Archer!" Illya cried. "Someone catch her!"

Green lines snapped into the water, and a giant hook literally fished a coughing, shivering Kuro out. "I've got her Ruby-chan!" Green Lantern called.

"S-so c-cold…" Kuro shivered as jets of lava began to erupt from the water. "I m-might need to r-rethink this outfit…"

"It's still regenerating!" Chrono cried, sending spells ineffectually at it. "Scrya, send it up to the Asura!"

"It's still too big!" Yuuno shot back as he sent chains saws to literally tear the program up, but it regrew faster than he could cut it.

"Hit it with everything we've got! More Dakka!" Vita cried as a cartridge detonated. "_Roaring Smash! Gigant Crusher!"_

She slammed the giant hammer down on the mass, which pushed it down beneath the water and splattering the bay with muck.

Sakura stared in horror, hearing the words that had haunted her nightmares as the water erupted in more lava and waves as tremors began to tear the city apart.

"_I'm out of ordinance!" _Tomoyo reported as her helicopter began to back away from the scene as the last of her rockets ran out. _"I knew I should have put in more of the nukes!"_

Sakura's blood ran cold.

"_**No!**__" _Illya cried. _"We're so __**close! **__My Berserker __**will**__ have JUSTICE!" _A beat "_**BLACK ARCHER! STOP MOLESTING SAPPHIRE-CHAN!"**_

Black Archer came up for air, half-supporting a swooning Kaleido Sapphire as she materialized her black bow and an arrow. "_**This is for Archer nii-sama, bitch!"**_

"_Berserk reaction imminent!_" Amy cried. "_You need to get it up here quick!_"

"Amy… Captain…" Nanoha said quietly. "If… if we don't make it… we'll need you to shoot the Arc-En-Ciel into the planet. Better we save some than lose everyone."

"… _understood, Nanoha-chan…_" Lindy said quietly.

"…" Nanoha said. "That was the unspoken plan all along, wasn't it?"

"_Kinda…_"

Nanoha sighed as dimensional distortions caused vibrations that she could feel even all the way from the air. "Raging Heart, prepare Starlight Breaker!"

"W_arning: estimated charge time might complete only after berserk reaction occurs._"

"Then we'd better start _now_, don't we!" Nanoha cried.

"_Yes, my master._"

"… we need more time…" Sailor Pluto said, lowering her hands as the Senshi on the Vimana desperately tried to do as much destruction as they could as Tuxedo Kamen finally got Gilgamesh to stop before he exhausted his power and ceased to exist, the prince holding one hand to the Servant's forehead to try and transfer some of his power. "_We need more time!"_

"Pluto…?" Eternal Sailor Moon said, pausing in going through her extremely long-charging energy blasts that for once weren't as instantly decisive as she was used to.

"Princess…" Sailor Pluto said, trying to convey sorrow and thanks.

Eternal Sailor Moon paled, realizing what she planned to do. "NO! Don't you _dare_**!**"

Sailor Pluto smiled sadly. "As you all say, we need more time…"

"_NO_!" Eternal Sailor Moon snapped. "I'm ordering you, _NO_!"

"Good bye…"

"_Stop her!" _Eternal Sailor Moon screamed, leaping at Sailor Pluto and grabbing her shoulder.

"_Time… Sto–"_

"_**TIME CARD!**_"

The world turned yellow.

Eternal Sailor Moon blinked. "Pluto?"

"It… wasn't me…" Sailor Pluto said. "Someone beat me to it."

In the bright yellow world, someone waved.

"Um, it looks like time was stopped by… Fetishistic Mask Girl?" Eternal Sailor Moon said. "Are we still calling her that?"

_For some reason, Sakura felt like drooping. _

"Um… What happened?" Hayate said, blinking and looking around in surprise at the monochrome yellow world.

_Time seems to have stopped, Mistress,_ Reinforce said, doing the device equivalent of rifling furiously through her spellbook to find out what the heck is going on. _We are apparently immune due to… an interaction with the Lee Syaoran data and the Sailor Pluto data? The second is obvious, but I have no idea why the first part is relevant._

"We can ask later," Tohsaka Sakura said from behind them, hovering shakily on small black Flier Fins.

Hayate blinked, looking behind her. "How… ?"

Sakura patted her a little patronizingly on the head. "We can talk about _that_ later too. Right now, we need to use what little time we've stolen. I don't think she can hold it for long." She pointed at the smaller, younger Sakura, who was obviously struggling to maintain her time-stop. "You go move Green Lantern-chan into time, let her finish charging her Starlight Breaker, I'll try to get someone equally lethal."

Hayate frowned, but nodded. "Get Black Reaper-san. If Reinforce-chan is remembering right, she has quick casting times." Sakura nodded, turning until she saw the girl, and they rushed off.

"What do we do?" Eternal Sailor Moon called out.

Sakura pointed down. "Start charging."

Both Senshi looked down a moment and nodded.

"I might actually manage a killing blow," Sailor Pluto said. "I… don't think that's ever happened before."

"Wanna see if we can make up a combined attack somehow?" Eternal Sailor Moon asked.

"Really?" Sailor Pluto said, the eagerness in her voice almost childish.

As the two tried to figure out if they could pull it off, Hayate flew to Green Lantern, who looked very weird washed out in yellow. Hesitantly, she grabbed Green Lantern's shoulder. Immediately, color flooded back to Nanoha, including the bright pink ball of magic she was gathering.

Green Lantern started "Hayate-chan?"

"Nanoha-chan…" Hayate said, smiling. "We've got a reprieve." Quickly, she summarized. "Do you think you can finish charging your Starlight Breaker in stopped time?"

"Raging Heart?" Nanoha asked.

"_All things are possible, my master,_" the Device said, sounding slightly cheery.

"We'll make it happen," Nanoha said. "Even if I have to collect the magic myself!"

Hayate nodded. "Stay in contact with me, or else you'll fall back into normal stopped time." She blinked and thought a moment. "That's such a weird sentence."

Nanoha smiled. "Welcome to my life. I hope you stay a while. _Gather, light of the stars…_"

Spinning her staff, a thing she didn't have the manual dexterity to do mere hours ago, never mind the skill, Hayate smiled. "Well, it has everyone I love in it, so I guess I'll have to hang around and see what happens. _Resound, Horn of Judgment…_"

Across the battlefield, Tohsaka Sakura grabbed her own target. Fate started. "What's going on?" she asked, confused.

Sakura smiled. "Black Reaper-san. I heard you can do things with lightning?" Sakura gave her the quick details.

"Hurry!" Kinomoto Sakura's voice carried over the still air. "I can't hold it much longer!"

"Release it!" Nanoha cried.

Sakura let out a grunt and relaxed. The Time Stop collapsed. Sounds and colors besides yellow rushed back into the world.

"_**STARLIGHT… BREAKER… EX!**_" Nanoha cried, her suddenly enormous ball of light coming as a shock.

"_**RAGNAROK!**_" Hayate cried out, her own spell blasting forward, one hand still on Nanoha's shoulder.

"_**PLASMA ZANBER!**_" Fate cried, swinging her blade as Tohsaka Sakura drifted away from her.

"_Dead… Scream…_" Sailor Pluto invoked.

"_Silver Moon Crystal Eternal Power!" _Eternal Sailor Moon cried, trying to aim one-handed while holding on to Sailor Pluto.

The five streams of power slammed into the Defense Program, overwhelming it, tearing it apart. It tried to scream, but Sakura's card was still firmly in effect, stifling its voice even as it tore apart, dark fragments seeming to rip themselves from the main body as it was engulfed in a Technicolor explosion. From the center of the mass began to glow a sickly purple light.

_Core exposed! _Reinforced cried.

"Yuuno, teleport it _NOW_!" Nanoha cried.

"Coordinating!" Shamal said, locking onto the core.

"_Extreme Long Distance Forced Transfer!"_ Arf cried.

"Target locked! Sending!" Yuuno said,

Below, a large circle inlaid with runes surrounded the core and as many of the fragments around it as possible, and there was a flicker as they were consumed by the forced teleportation effect.

Hayate sighed. "There it goes. It's out of our hands now, right Nanoha-chan… Nanoha-chan?" She blinked, looking around rapidly as she realized she was alone except for Reinforce in her head as a fading green contrail pointed straight up into the sky.

"Darn!" Eternal Sailor Moon cried. "Our attack didn't combine!"

...

"Core transfer in progress!" Amy announced on the _Asura'_s bridge. "It's regenerating in transit!"

"Well, at least it's nice enough to make itself a big and unmissable target," Lindy commented, as she hefted her activation key. "Initiate barrel expansion!"

"Arc-En-Ciel barrel expansion, commencing!" Amy said, her fingers tapping on her terminal with a speed that made one wonder if Fate was as fast as she was cracked up to be.

"Firing Lock System, open!" Lindy commanded. "Confirm firing lock and ship position! Let's not make Green Lantern-chan have to fill out a planetary extinction report."

There was nervous laughter on the bridge as Lindy inserted her activation key into the firing system.

"It's going to be close…" Amy announced. "The program is already going berserk!"

Lindy's grip tightened on her key. "Then we hit it as soon as it gets out."

"Egress in three… two.."

"Arc-En-Ciel, FIRE!" Lindy announced, turning her key.

"_**One**_!"

The Defense Program emerged into real space a fraction of a second before the wave front of the _Asura_'s main cannon slammed into it straight on.

And then there was light.

...

Everyone on the bridge of the _Asura _waited with baited breath.

"Target destroyed!" Amy cried, practically cheering. "All objects in the firing zone completely vaporized! No reincarnation reactions detected!"

Cheers broke out across the bridge, some people finally remembering to let out the breath they'd been holding.

"We did it, everyone!" Amy sent down to the surface. "We did it!" Over the open line, they could hear the cheering starting.

"_Congratulations, Admiral Lindy!_" Nanoha's voice came over the communications system. "_That blast… that was amazing!_"

"Ah, did you manage to see it all the way down there, Green Lantern-chan?" Amy said, sounding smug.

There was a knock on the window. Amy blinked, them ever so slowly turned around. On the other side of the transparent panel, Green Lantern waved excitedly, giving them the thumbs up.

Amy, Lindy and the rest of the bridge crew slowly waved back. "You know, I've forgotten she could just fly up here," Lindy said, slightly exasperated.

"Naturally it slipped all our minds, what with all that 'throwing it into the sun' business," Amy said, slightly out of it. No one ever expects to see anyone outside the window in this place, after all.

"_I'm going to check out the firing zone, scan for debris,_" Nanoha said. "_In case there are microscopic particles your equipment didn't pick up._"

"Of course, Green Lantern-chan," Lindy said. "We'd be grateful for the confirmation."

As Nanoha flew away, leaving a glowing green trail behind her, Amy sighed. "There's goes one scary little girl."

Lindy crossed her arms. "That's not the scary part," Lindy said, somehow managing to sound both tranquil and tense. "The scary part is, going by what she said, she was up here to see the Arc-En-Ciel fire."

"So?"" Amy asked.

"Amy, _Green Lantern-chan,_ the creator of the Million Her Starlight Breaker Rain, just saw what our main gun looks like," Lindy said. "_How long before she makes up her own version?_"

There was dead silence on the bridge.

"Oh, crap," Amy said succinctly.

For a while, horrified silence filled the bridge as they considered the thought of Green Lantern with her own Arc-En-Ciel, or reasonable knock-off thereof(though knowing her, it would probably come in burst-fire, full automatic, and Gatling gun multi-barrel hi-speed firing versions).

"Really glad she's on our side," one of the other members of the bridge crew said.

A beat.

Amy frowned as she became aware of what she was hearing on her earpiece. "Captain, it's the kids on the ground. Apparently… Yagami-san has fallen unconscious."

"Prep the medical bay!" Lindy cried, suddenly all business and tense. "Tell them to be ready for anything! Coordinate with those on the ground, get that little girl up here now! It's the least we can do…"

...

Somewhere in Uminari, a dark, very cool and stealthy-looking helicopter landed along the walkway surrounding the bay. The canopy opened, to the satisfied sigh of a job well done by the pilot, and a lot of bitching, some in Japanese, some in Mandarin, from two of the three girls crammed into the rear seat. "_**TES-TA-ROS-SA FA-ATE!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!**_" Alisa cried dramatically, shaking an ineffectual fist at the sky as she struggled to get out of the confining seat. "I have a bone to pick with you!" She tried to stomp out of the rear cockpit. And realized the hard way helicopters weren't made for stompy exits unless you knew what you were doing when she tripped and fell flat on her face on the ground. "Ow…"

Tomoyo smiled, leaned back, and filed the name away for future reference…

...

Hayate, it turned out, snored like a chainsaw badly in need of oil, cleaning, several new parts, and possibly removal from the hunk of steel it had been lodged into.

"She's just exhausted," Maga Alba said, summarizing the diagnosis of the _Asura's_ chief medical officer, Shamal, Yuuno, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Saturn and Valkyrie Black. "It's way past her bedtime, after all, and this is the first time she's used magic so extensively. I'm surprised the poor dear hadn't fallen asleep sooner."

"I'm surprised she isn't waking herself up," Chrono said from where he has standing next to Hayate's bed. The room was filled with Wolkenritter crowded around one side of the bed, the various people in each group that new anything about healing and medicine, Green Lantern and the Enforcer. "Seriously, is something wrong with her nose? She can wake the dead!"

Vita glared at the criticism of her lady and mistress, but said nothing. Possibly she was realizing it wasn't wise to piss off one of the people who could influence her trial, but more likely because she didn't want to be noisy and wake up Hayate.

"In fact…" Yuuno said, waving around a combination of his ring and some diagnostic spells, "for a girl with paralyzed legs and semi-paralyzed internal organs, she's in pretty good shape. I'm already seeing a reversal in the status of her vital organs– those pains she's been having shouldn't be a problem for much longer– but her legs could take a while. They've got years' worth of damage to recover from, though on the bright side at least there's no sign of atrophy."

"Thank goodness…" Reinforce said from where she was standing at the foot of Hayate's bed. Nanoha, to her credit, was very good at not making it look like she was standing guard over prisoners. "Still… even with the Defense Program destroyed, it's only a matter of time before I regenerate a new program and begin to go out of control again."

Chrono tensed, a stream of nightmarish images already cascading before his eyes. And that wasn't even counting the inevitable paperwork that would result.

"Can't you repair it somehow?" Shamal asked.

"Impossible," Reinforce said. "Even though I can do so with my administrator rights now active, I have no idea how to affect repairs. The original undamaged data has been corrupted or lost."

Sailor Mercury frowned, and began to tap her lips thoughtfully…

"The only way to protect Hayate is to completely disconnect her from the Tome of the Night Sky," Reinforce said.

The other knights' shoulders slumped, ever so slightly, clearly resigned.

"Is that possible?" Green Lantern said, tilting her head curiously. "From Yuuno's briefing, I thought the Book and its Master were bonded for life?"

"We are," Reinforce said. "However, now that the regenerative Defense Program has been removed, it should be a much simpler matter to destroy the Tome of the Night Sky…"

Nanoha blinked, pausing a moment to consider those words…

The next thing Reinforce knew, her hands had been cuffed behind her back as several signs that read "Suicide Watch" glowed and blinked around her. "Over my dead body," Nanoha said cheerfully, her smile wide and sunny.

"Na– Green Lantern-san, it's the best way to ensure Hayate's safety," Reinforce said, her eyes sad. She made no move to struggle against her restraints. "Your entire world's safety. For her to live, to ensure the threat posed by the cursed 'Book of Darkness' never rises again, the Tome of the Night Sky must be destroyed."

For a moment, Nanoha was silent. She stepped forward, leaning towards Reinforce, voice level. "No. Too many people have died. Worlds have died. Chrono's father was taken from him. Hayate had to live alone most of her life."

"That's exactly why I must do this, Green Lantern-san," Reinforce said quietly. "Too many people have died because of–"

Nanoha cut her off before she could finish. "Too many people," she said, voice quiet, soft and gentle, yet completely immovable, "have died so that you may live. Archer-san, who I've only met once… Berserker-san, who died before my very eyes… they gave their _cores_ to you, freely and of their own will, knowing they would die, yet gave them to you anyway, so that you could be completed. So that you and Hayate may _live_. Their deaths gave you life." Nanoha lay a hand over her own chest. "_My_ core is a part of you, Reinforce-san. A part of me helped give you life. You are my responsibility." Nanoha's visor dissolved, and the gaze that met Reinforce's eyes were hard. "How _dare_ you think to repay all those sacrifices with your death, Tome of the Night Sky? How _dare_ you?-! Too many people have died to give you this life. I _refuse _to allow you to make all those deaths, all our pain, all of the knights' suffering, Hayate's loneliness, be in vain. For the sake of all those who've died, Tome of the Night Sky, you are going to _live_. You are going to live and bring the happiness and joy they weren't able to bring to the world. You are going to live and give their sacrifice _meaning_. You are going to live, and be happy with those you love, in memory of those who cannot be, to enjoy the life they gave you at the expense of their own. And if I _ever_ hear any of this nonsense again…" At this, Nanoha's voice actually gained a touch of menace. "_I'm telling Hayate-chan._"

Reinforce couldn't help it. She gulped.

Nanoha examined her, as if weighing the soul looking back at her through those crimson eyes, and nodded in satisfaction. "Good! I'm glad we understand one another."

Behind her, there was a small round of applause as Chrono, Konoka, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Saturn, Yuuno, and the _Asura's_ chief medical officer all clapped in approval. Konoka held up a small scorecard with 8.9 on it.

"Still…" Reinforce said quietly. "What do we do?"

Now Green Lantern smiled. It was a fond, indulgent smile, the kind a parent gives to a child that says something insightful but incomplete. "Now, we're going to do what you all should have done at the start of all this," Nanoha said, letting the handcuffs and signs fall away as she began to lead Reinforce out the door. "We're going to the cafeteria, where everyone is waiting, and we're going to tell them your problem… and they are going to set aside how angry they are at you and help you. Because they're good people… and they'll help you if you only ask and give them a chance to."

Sure enough, there was an uproar when Nanoha announced the dilemma and proposed solution in the cafeteria. The general reaction was along the lines of "Are you nuts? That's a stupid idea. Come on, sit over here so we can come up with a _real_ answer".

They talked long into the night.

...

That morning, when Yagami Hayate woke up from strange dreams, she found herself not transformed into a monstrous vermin. She lay on her slightly sweaty back on a strange bed, in an unfamiliar room, and if she lifted her head a little she could see her Knight Armor and Vita's head. Normally, she'd be a lot more concerned, except Vita was curled up at her side, fast asleep and still wearing the clothes she'd worn yesterday. That meant all was right with the world.

She pushed herself upright slowly, mindful of the sleeping loli at her side. She could just make out Zafira curled up on the floor next to the bed, while Signum was more visibly passed out on the chair next to her. Of Shamal, there was no sign.

Hayate suddenly winced, bringing a hand up to her chest at a sudden pain. Strangely, it wasn't as sharp or as long as it had been recently. When it passed and Hayate was able to breath normally again, she lay back and contemplated, one hand idly stroking Vita's hair. Memories of yesterday came to her, and she had no doubt it wasn't a dream. After all, if she could accept she'd suddenly gained a family that came out from a magic book one day, then it was fair to say she wasn't the sort to knee-jerk deny everything just because it was weird. She narrowed her eyes almost shut, aware of new warmth within her, of a sensation of heat and oneness and fiery pain waiting to happen, of a tingling along her limbs and insides. Every breath felt she was taking in more than just air.

_Mana_, a part of her said. _Magic. _She could feel it coursing through her, flowing through her Linker Core, her Magic Circuits, her soul. It was all so strange and confusing, and a part of her wanted to faint again, just as it had that night she had been blessed with a wonderful, beautiful gift of family. She felt tears welling up in her eyes, and she let them fall. Her family… her friends…

Suddenly, she _very_ much wanted to see the newest member of her family. Where was her Reinforce?

There was a _shift_ in the warmth within her, and suddenly a sense of awareness blossomed. Like there was a fire whose warmth she could feel but not see, vaguely indicating a direction to her. Well… that was convenient.

Now, how to get there…

She saw a distinct lack of her wheelchair in the room, and it didn't feel right to wake up Vita and Signum to have them carry her there. The poor dears looked so cute sleeping, and they probably needed it. Still, that left her with the dilemma of how to go without her wheelchair and without waking the two. Hayate frowned as she lay there, stroking her chin thoughtfully.

Abruptly, she slapped her forehead. "Oh, duh. I can fly now." Convenient thing, magic. She smiled to herself, satisfied at having solved her inconvenience with such a simple solution.

There was a beat.

"Now, how do I fly…?" she mused. She hadn't really been paying attention last night. Reinforce had done most of the work actually…

Carefully, she sat up, gently laying Vita on the bed. She rolled her shoulders, considering, trying to recall how she'd flown. There had been wings involved…

She took a deep breath, and thrust her arms out. "_Go Wings!_" she cast.

Nothing.

She frowned. Maybe the was too complicated. "_Fly_!" she tried again, resisting the urge to flap her arms.

More nothing.

Hayate's eyebrow twitched. "_Wingardium Leviosa!"_

Still nothing.

"_Go Wings Go!"_ she tried one more time. This time she _did_ flap her arms.

She remained stubbornly bed-bound.

Hayate slumped, then brightened as she recalled something. "Ooh, wait, maybe I'm doing this all wrong. Maybe I need to think happy thoughts…"

She closed her eyes and recalled the past year as she concentrated on lifting off the ground. She thought of every dinner with her family, every skinshippy shared bath, every night in front of the TV she'd fallen asleep knowing she'd be taken care of as she clenched her fists tightly, her face screwing up in effort.

"Hayate-chan?" a concerned Signum's voice said. "Are you constipated? Do you need to go to the bathroom?"

Hayate slumped, sighing. "No, I don't need to go, Signum-chan." Darn it, why was the universe so against her being cool? "Could you pick me up? I need to go somewhere…"

...

Reinforce, it turned out, was in the mess hall.

"What the heck happened here?" Vita asked, incredulous as Hayate and Signum just stared (and in the former's case, took the opportunity to snuggle against the latter's chest).

The floor, tables and chairs were littered with unconscious magical girls. A few were sitting properly, slumped over with their head in their hands, but most were just passed out in the floor. Eternal Sailor Moon had appropriated Tuxedo Kamen's top hat and cape as a pillow and blanket. Erebus was doing something similar, passed out on the floor curled up next to Leader Red, most of the girls who'd come with him— and Sailor Saturn— asleep around him. A few still had their fists in each other's faces, showing what they'd been doing before they fell asleep. Lancer was lying on top of a table cradling his spear, while Tohsaka Sakura had fallen asleep on Rider's lap, who had herself passed out against a wall. Fate was somehow sleeping curled against an equally unconscious Arf, a cute little snot bubble coming from her nose, in mirror image of Zafira and Shamal.

The only ones still conscious were Nanoha, Sailor Mercury, and a girl in a black seifuku with demon wings and a tail— cosplay features, not actual body parts, Hayate's keen eye saw— all crowded around a slightly nervous-looking Reinforce.

"Reinforce!" Hayate cried, causing the Unison Device to look up in relief.

"Hayate-sama!" Reinforce said, moving towards her as Hayate frowned. "Are you all ehh?"

Hayate had pinched her nose. "Reinforce-chan…" she said chidingly. "You said you had all the other knights' memories… do I have to repeat that talk I gave them about calling me 'Hayate-chan'?"

Reinforce blinked in surprise, eyes darting towards Signum and Vita. They shook their heads, not even bothering with telepathy. "Ah, sorry, Hayate…-chan."

Hayate nodded in satisfaction, letting her go. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Ah, we were just going over Reinforce-san's options to prevent the Defense Program from ever becoming a problem again," Nanoha said.

"That's nice, Rein-chan, how do I fly?" Hayate said.

Blink. "Huh?"

"Me. Fly. So I don't need to be carried around," Hayate explained.

Nanoha brightened beneath her visor. "Ooh, yeah! Flying is awesome! Should _definitely _be the first thing you learn!"

"I know, right?" Hayate said. "Plus, it'll help me get around this 'legs paralyzed' thing. So, come on Rein-chan! Wingardium Leviosa me!"

Reinforce coughed, glancing at Nanoha. "I don't think that would be advisable, Hayate-s… er, -chan. We _are_ prisoners under arrest, after all."

"It was all safe, sane and consensual!" Hayate said loudly. "They never touched me without my approval! It was all my idea! Vita-chan is older than she looks and totally legal! There was no coercing on their part at all!"

Nanoha blinked. "What are you talking about?"

Vita, Signum and Reinforce all facepalmed. Signum, who was carrying Hayate, had to borrow Vita's spare hand to do it, but that was the sort of synchronization the Wolkenritter had. "Hayate-chan… we were arrested for the Linker Core thing, not _anything_ else," Signum said.

"Oh." Hayate paused. "Forget I said anything then."

"Huh?" Nanoha said.

"_Ask your mother_," Raging Heart and Ring-chan chorused.

"Oh, not you two too!" Nanoha whined.

Someone threw a red heeled shoe at her, which helpfully bounced off her ring aura. "Keep it down!" an annoyed Sailor Mars said sleepily, before turning over, one bare foot nudging one of the mess hall's chairs.

The door to the mess hall opened again, and Lindy strolled in, whistling cheerfully and looking tired but satisfied. The whistling died off as she saw the mass of unconscious bodies. "Well… at least they still have their clothes on…" she said. "Green Lantern-chan, could I ask you to wake them up please? I wouldn't want to begrudge anyone their sleep, but they'll be serving breakfast soon, and we'll at least need the floor clear."

"Of course captain," Nanoha said. A frying pan appeared in one hand, what looked like a wooden spoon in the other. "Up and at 'em!" Nanoha said with disgusting cheerfulness as she began banging one against the other, making a loud and obnoxious metallic ringing. "Breakfast time!"

No less than twenty shoes slammed into her ring aura. "_Keep it down, we're trying to sleep!_" a host of voices cried.

Kinomoto Sakura, sleeping curled up next to Lee Syaoran, jerked awake. "Uh, need to make breakfast…" she said sleepily, standing up with her eyes still closed and walking a few steps before stopping, one hand flailing at empty air as if looking for a doorknob.

Everyone conscious sweatdropped. "I can't _believe_ these people managed to kick my ass," Reinforce said. "I was mind controlled and not really trying, but still…"

Nanoha let the frying pan and spoon disappear. She pulled out a megaphone. "Everyone, please wake up!" No response. "A giant monster is attacking an orphanage full of puppies and kittens!"

"Let Superman handle it," Black Archer grumbled, sniffing Miyu's hair.

Calculator walked over and plucked the megaphone from Nanoha's hands. "Erebus-sensei, why are you naked?" she said, voice flat and near-monotone.

Nearly everyone with a womb sat bolt upright. "_Where?-! Where?-!" _Sailor Venus cried.

"Oh good, you're awake," Calculator said. "Get off the floor before you get trampled by the breakfast crowd."

"That was a mean and dirty trick!" Luvia cried.

Saber, one of those who hadn't bolted upright, did so now. "What was that about breakfast?" she asked coldly.

"_**Get offa me, you pervert!" **_

And with that, Illya was awake.

...

Breakfast, of course, turned into a party.

"'We Saved The World! Again!'," Amy read off the banner Haruna had made. "Again? Really?"

"Saved it just this month," Illya said.

"Did it half a year ago," Sakura volunteered. "Kinda. Sort of. Definitely did but it's… complicated."

"Been doing it once or twice a year for the last five years," Sailor Jupiter said.

"Summer vacation," Asuna said. "Did it for another planet, but it counts."

"Do planets other than Earth count?" Nanoha asked.

"It should," Asuna said, "they're just as hard!"

The girls all nodded, exchanging looks of accomplishment.

"I'd bring how I helped too, but…" Tuxedo Kamen said, trailing off into mumbling.

"It's still kinda a work in progress…" Negi said, trailing off into mumbling.

"I still haven't finished all the paperwork for that solar flare… and that ion storm… and those quakes… and that computer glitch that set that planet's computer clocks back by a thousand years…" Yuuno said, trailing off into mumbling.

"I could have done it, but it was kinda rigged… stupid cheating ancestor…" Syaoran said, trailing off into mumbling.

"I'm not _sure_ we saved the _whole _world_… _we saved the city, but_…" _Shiro said, trailing off into mumbling.

"Green Lantern mumble mumble… " Chrono said, trailing off into mumbling.

The boys all exchanged looks of commiseration.

Gilgamesh and Saber, for once, weren't getting on each other's nerves, instead staring down at the molded tray filled with healthy, nutritious TSAB mess hall food. "What…" Gilgamesh began, looking at the healthy, nutritious TSAB mess hall food on his tray.

"… is _this_ supposed to be?" Saber finished, looking like she wanted desperately to Excalibur the healthy, nutritious TSAB mess hall food. Their expressions were a paired study in kingly disdain.

Tuxedo Kamen opened his mouth to chide him, paused, took Gilgamesh's spoon, and had an experimental bite of the healthy, nutritious TSAB mess hall food. He chewed and manfully swallowed. "Please don't blow up anyone for this atrocity," he said instead. He paused to consider. "Feed this to them instead."

Gilgamesh pushed his tray away, looking disgusted. Saber, halfway through her tray, grabbed it and added to her own healthy, nutritious TSAB mess hall food. "Disgusting slop. This swill is beneath me," she said, golden eyes gleaming as she took another spoonful. The two men stared at her.

She raised an eyebrow at them. "What? I didn't say I wouldn't it eat. Odious muck." She stuffed an overflowing spoon into her mouth.

Gilgamesh's eyebrows twitched. There was something _very_ devaluating about watching such a treasure-worthy woman eating healthy, nutritious TSAB mess hall food. "Is there something actually _edible _aboard this floating space can?"

Eternal Sailor Moon walked past, stuffing her face with chocolate cake. "Hey guys, you've _got_ to try this cake! Fetishistic Mask Girl made it with one of those cards of her!"

Elsewhere in the room, Sakura felt the urge to droop.

Someone started to tap a cup with a spoon. The ringing sound wasn't very loud, but enough people got into it to make the sound rise above the hubbub. "Speech!" Haruna cried. "Speech!"

Hayate, sharing a cake with Shamal, looked up. "Me?" she said, while next to her Sailor Mercury and Calculator were trying to analyze the physical Tome of the Night Sky.

"Yeah, speech!" Haruna called out. "Come on, we can't wrap up a world-threatening crisis without hearing an evil speech from the villainous mastermind!"

"Hey!" Vita cried indignantly, shooting to her feet.

Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune, Saber, Rider, Assassin, Lancer and AngelGARd reacted similarly, hands dropping to weapons.

"No fighting, no— oh, why do I even bother," Shiro said, throwing up his hands in resignation.

"Ooh, can I?" Hayate said. "I've never been a villainous mastermind before!"

Shamal, Zafira, Signum and Reinforce sweatdropped.

"Should I stand on something, or… ooh, can I float up?" Hayate asked, looking eager at the thought.

"Ooh, here, let me help," Nanoha said, building a small stage. In deference to Hayate, there was both a wheelchair and a wheelchair accessible ramp.

"Speech, speech, speech…" Haruna began to lead the chant as Hayate slowly ascended up the stage. "Speech, speech, speech, YAY!" came the cheer as Hayate reached the top and bowed.

"Um, hello everyone…" Hayate began nervously. "I'm Yagami Hayate, the villainous mastermind. I'm sorry I don't look like it, but my Showa-era cybernetic arm and eye are being cleaned, and I left my cape in the hospital." There was a round of good natured laughter. Heartened, Hayate continued. "I'd like to apologize for all the trouble my kids have caused… They weren't supposed to do any of that. I promise to make sure they never do it again! I… I don't know what's going to happen to us from this point on, but I throw myself and my beloved family at your mercy and goodwill. Please take care of us! "

Rin frowned and sighed. "She just _had_ to remind us they're her _beloved_ family, didn't she."

From where Sailor Mercury and Calculator were still examining it, the Tome of the Night Sky clicked again, a soft glow emanating as a small Belkan triangle appeared in front of it. "_Time lock, expired. Authorization phrases, confirmed. Releasing contents of Capture Space 01."_

And from out of the triangle popped a crisp white envelope. Nanoha turned it over and blinked at the clear script adorning one side with an address. The address read, _In the Presence of the United Magical Girl Association, The _Asura_ Mess Hall, Defense Program Victory Party, High Earth Orbit._

Reinforce blinked, frowning and rubbing her head. "How… I didn't know that was in there…"

Negi looked at it and grunted disapprovingly. "Harry Potter has a LOT to answer for. This is NOT how you should address an envelope!"

Everyone stared at it.

"Well?" Haruna demanded. "Someone open it!"

There was a brief scramble.

Everyone gathered around the envelope as Green Lantern cautiously opened it and unfolded the letter inside.

"Well?" Sailor Venus asked. "It doesn't say 'Today I prepared Explosive Runes', does it?"

Sailor Mercury gave her a look.

"What? I miss that gag."

"No, it doesn't say that, Sailor Venus-san," Green Lantern said. "All it has is a salutation to 'The United Magical Girl Association' and a few marks that kinda look like those buttons they use on MP3 controls.

Asuna craned her head. "Hey, I've seen these things before. It's a magic letter! Basically, it's a letter you can record like a video. You just have to press the play button."

Nanoha looked at it, shrugged and pressed the little right-pointing arrow.

The air flickered above the letter, and a voice said, "_Today I prepared Explosive Runes!_"

Kuro's eyebrow twitched. "I'm getting a feeling about this letter…" she said.

A timestamp flickered. It was from ten years ago. Beneath that was a location: Fuyuki City.

"The feeling is getting stronger," Kuro said.

Saber frowned. "This was made during the 4th Holy Grail War."

"Why would you think it important to mention that?" Sailor Mars wondered.

The flickering hologram resolved itself into a dark room, obviously a cheap motel room. "_- that the right button?_" a voice asked, and the image blurred, shuddering from side to side. "_How can you tell if this thing is working again? Testing, testing, one, two, three…_"

Nanoha, Fate and Hayate blinked. "Hey, isn't that…?" Nanoha said.

"That's Rein-chan's voice!" Hayate exclaimed.

As if on cue, an enormous red eye appeared in the display. It blinked. "_Um, I think it's on, Hayate-chan._"

"_Well, point it this way, Rein-chan,"_ another voice said, one that had Gilgamesh twitching. The image blurred, before focusing on a beautiful woman with short brown hair, large breasts, and… _two_ Books of Darkness? She waved enthusiastically. _"Hello everyone! If you're watching this, then Archer, Berserker, Chao Lingshen, Small Lady and I have all set up and done our parts correctly and everything has gone according to plan! And if it hasn't, who are you, what are you doing with my Tome, and I swear, if you hurt my knights, I __**will**__ find a way out of the Throne of Heroes to kick your ass!"_

Rin twitched. "Oh, crap. It's that 'plan' again!"

The voice obviously operating the camera said, _"Um, Hayate, please…?"_

The woman coughed. _"Oh, right. Um, I guess I should properly introduce myself. Hello everyone in the year 20XX. I'm– wait, I'm doing this all wrong."_ She stood up, and her image shimmered, momentarily too bright to see. When it resolved, the woman stood there in an exact copy of Hayate's Knight Armor. She threw out her hands to either side, and grandly proclaimed, _"All of you, sheath your blades! Let rest your magic, and lay down your power rings! You are in the presence of a __**Queen**__! I am Yagami Hayate, Queen of the Night Sky, Destroyer of Worlds, Retired Colonel of the Time Space Administration Bureau Ground Forces, Hero of Justice, the Regina Daemonia of the Wolkenritter, Senior Knight Mage of the Court of the Crystal Imperium and the White Knight Auxiliary, and proud member of the United Magical Girl Association and Justice League Unlimited! I am of the Caster class in this, the 4__th__ Holy Grail War. Fate has brought us together to defend the Earth! Yield to me and join the army of Justice, and I will treat you all as my friends, and we shall share in the joy of Green Lantern-chan's __**delicious**__ chocolate cakes together! Nok!"_

_Somewhere, Al-Iskander the Great sneezed. And the sneeze was the AWESOME sneeze of a KING, ENVY OF ALL MEN!_

Everyone sweatdropped. You could tell even the person manning the camera was sweatdropping.

"Sugoi!" Hayate gushed, stars in her eyes. "I want to do something like that one day!"

Kuro was sighing. "Oh, I know where this is going…"

_"And you'd be completely correct, Kuro-chan!" _the older Hayate said. "_Yes, this __**is**__ a video will just like the one Sh— er, Archer-kun had sent to you the day of his death."_

"This letter going to know what we're going to say, isn't it?" Rin said.

"_Yup!" _the older Hayate chirped, Gainaxing. A pause. "_Vita, my eyes are up __**here."**_

The red knight jerked up her gaze, blushing fiercely. "I wasn't staring!"

Older-Hayate sighed happily. "_Ah, that look on Vita's face when she was being dirty. I've missed that._"

There was a sound kinda like a printer, and someone handed Older-Hayate a sheet of paper from behind the camera. "_I have Vita-chan's exact reaction to you telling her to stop staring at your breasts, mistress._"

Older-Hayate took the sheet, looked at it, and giggled. _"Ah, so cute…" _she said, turning the sheet over, showing Vita's exact expression. There was even a little speech balloon that read, "I wasn't staring!"

There was an off-screen cough. "_Hayate-chan, perhaps you should get back on topic before the Defense Program regenerates and dooms our audience?" _Reinforce said diffidently.

"_Oh, right,"_ letter!Hayate said. "_Anyway, as I was saying, if the United Magical Girl Association— and the boys— are watching this, then it means either you got REALLY lucky, or everything went according to plan. I'm afraid I cannot in good conscience reveal the full details of the plan just yet, mainly because some identities need to be obfuscated until you realize who they are. Regardless, it's very complicated. I, for my part, had to make sure the Lady Einzbern isn't killed in this war… Rein-chan, you __**sure**__ Kotomine hasn't tried to kill her yet?"_

_"Positive, Hayate-chan_,"letter!Reinforce replied. "_Our Blade-Wing Worms are keeping an eye on them."_

_"Awfully useful, Zouken's thaumaturgical data,"_ Hayate mused. "_Anyway, aside from making sure some little girl grows up to have a mother, I still need to rescue our favorite rival, traumatize Gilgamesh with Starlight Breaker, and minimize the resulting fire." _A pause. "_Rein, are you __**sure**__ we can't try to rescue Tracer's parents?"_

Shiro stiffened, suddenly very intent.

_"Our search for them has proven fruitless, Hayate-chan," _Reinforce said._ "Besides, history—"_

_"Fuck history," _Hayate replied. She sighed, looking tearfully at her audience, and Shiro in particular._ "Tracer-kun… I want you to know, I tried. I tried to change your fate, tried to save your family. But I just couldn't find them! But I __**tried**__, Tracer-kun, I really did. I guess… I guess you were just born to be a Hero of Justice… I'm sorry... "_

Everyone turned to stare at Tracer, who'd bowed his head. Finally, he looked up and turned towards the young Hayate, who was looking stunned. "It's all right," he said. "It's all right…"

On-screen, Hayate nodded sadly. "_I know you'd say that… but I had to try. And you'll try too, won't you, little me?"_

Hayate started, then nodded. "Y-yes…" she said hesitantly.

"Good!" letter!Hayate said, nodding. She looked more serious now. "_Now, I believe there are a few matters still unanswered. In an hour or so, I'm going to go and seal as much of the corruption of the Grail into this."_ She held out one of the Books she was holding. "_For the sake of differentiation, let's refer to this as the Book Of Darkness. Afterwards, I shall evilly send it to you, my younger self, thus setting up the events of the last month or so and beginning what is most likely a stable time loop. I've got Sailor Pluto powers, so I'd know. Then I'm going to send my Tome of the Night Sky to my esteemed rival-to-be, to prepare her for what's to come, while I bind myself to the Holy Grail to wait until the Fifth War."_

_"And while I wait, life will happen," _she said. "_You will all grow up from little children— heck some of you won't have been born yet!— into the heroes you are today. There will be tragedies I could avert, but don't, because I need to stay here. Tragedies you yourselves will one day tell me to allow to happen. I realize you only have my word for this, and right now, as you're watching this, you don't really have that much good will towards me, but things… well, things change, as they do."_ She paused. "_Anyway, I'm sure you're wondering how my knights found you. It wasn't hard. They cheated. Chao Lingshen told them exactly where to go_."

"THAT TIME-TRAVELING BITCH!" Asuna cried.

Letter!Hayate waggled an admonishing finger. "_Ah-ah… language, Twilight-chan. After all, you never figured out which girl Lingshen-chan was descended from. That could be your granddaughter you're talking about! Shame on you."_

Asuna paled at the thought. "Hah! Like I'd ever get together with the brat!" she said defiantly. She frowned. "Why is she laughing? _Why is she laughing?"_

"That's pretty ominous," Yue said as Nodoka paled, Asuna's classmates staring at her.

Once the laughter died down, letter!Hayate continued. _"A-anyway, she was also the one who generously set up those battle gynoids as a convenient distraction in Mahora. She and Small Lady have been behind the scenes all this time, moving things into place to get to this point. The hero you all know as Archer will help too, while he's there. I can't believe his cockamamie 'partial amnesia' story is actually going to work. Seriously, I still can't get over how he becomes that smart…"_

Kuro hid her smile.

"_Anyway_..." letter!Hayate said, "_that's as much as I can safely tell you now. I only have one really important thing to say."_ She pointed dramatically at Reinforce. "_Younger Rein-chan… you can trust Calculator-sama and Sailor Mercury-chan's idea. They are __**not**__ going to try and reprogram you into a weapon. And our esteemed rival can be very helpful for… advise." _She smiled sadly. "_I'm afraid that's as much as I can tell you. Potential paradox and stuff, you know_."

She paused again, and stood. _"I'm sorry I can't tell you more, but we all agreed to keep information restricted. And even if I wanted to tell you, it's been so long… I can't be certain I'm remembering things right. Even though it's happened before, some events I've only heard of second hand. I did get a letter from this hot chick from the future, but it wasn't very helpful. I can't really be sure of what's going to happen to us from this point on, but I'm trusting myself and my beloved family to you. Please take care of us!"_ She bowed.

The image faded away, and the paper caught fire.

Everyone slowly turned to look at Hayate.

She stared at the burning paper, then looked up as it finished turning completely to ash. "Is there still any cake left?

...

"Ah!" Nanoha said, stretching her arms over her head as she, Fate, Yuuno and Arf walked through the falling snow in the midmorning light. "All's well that ends well."

"I hope Sailor Mercury-san and Calculator-sama are successful in their plan to debug Reinforce-san," Yuuno said, looking up at the sky thoughtfully.

"Jewel Red's imouto seemed pretty confident they could pull it off," Fate said. "Chrono-kun said he'd try to arrange for the Wolkenriiter to be employed in the TSAB as a kind of community service instead of jail time." She sounded wistful.

Nanoha snorted. "Right… let a bunch of powerful convicted criminals loose in your already badly-supervised organization. No way _that_ could go wrong."

"Eh? I thought you liked them, Nanoha-chan?" Arf asked.

"I do! I just think it is, in principle, a stupid idea," Nanoha said. "They probably going to be treated like some kind of expendable suicide squad too,…"

"No! Lindy-san wouldn't stand for it!" Fate protested.

"She can't be everywhere…" Nanoha countered.

"I'm not sure pessimist is a good look on you, Nanoha," Yuuno said dryly. "Still, you're right, it can't be a totally happy ending. "

"Chrono-kun told me most Lost Logia cases end tragically," Fate said wistfully. "A chain of sad events in the shadow of a great and terrible power."

Nanoha frowned. "Not if I have anything to say about it."

"If _we_ have anything to say about it," Yuuno corrected. "I'm wearing a ring too, remember? Heck you gave it to me, back when this whole mess began."

Nanoha sighed. "Was it only this month? It feels like it's been years." She glanced sideways at him. "You _still _need to go to Oa for proper training, you know. We're lucky they let you put it off this long."

"After what you put me through, it can't be that hard," Yuuno said dryly. "Then we're off, protecting planets, people, and stopping bad stuff from happening!"

Nanoha laughed. "Yeah!" she agreed, and they tapped rings.

Fate's eyebrow twitched. _Not jealous, not jealous…_ "I wanna join you too…" she said. "I might not have a ring, but I have experience. And anyway, I can't just let my friends go off alone."

"_We_ can't just let our friends go off alone," Arf corrected.

Fate smiled and knelt to pat the little puppy's head. "Besides," she said. "I want to stop those things from happening too. I don't want what happened to my mother and Alicia-neechan to happen to anyone else." She looked up. "I know it was her I talked to, Nanoha-chan. The _real_ her. Alicia."

"Stranger things have happened,' Nanoha said, not disagreeing.

For a moment, they lapsed into comfortable silence.

"So, I'm thinking of getting a new device, since my last one heartlessly abandoned me for this girl we met one night…"

"I said I was sorry!"

"_Get over it sir."_

_"_We still owe Alisa and Suzuka an explanation."

"Actually, I can think of a few people who deserve it more…

Together, the four friends walked on, leaving their tracks to fade in the snow.

...

"Those girls have a lot of explaining to do," Alisa grumbled as she savagely buttered her toast.

"So you've been saying since last night, Alisa-chan," Suzuka said as they had breakfast on the morning of their impromptu sleepover.

"Magical Girls explain in their own time," Tomoyo said tranquilly, giving a mysterious, saintly smile.

"So pass the jam!" Meilin said cheerfully. "I get to pilot the helicopter on the way back, right?"

Alisa sighed. "I need to make saner friends…"

...

Doctor Ishida was, to put it mildly, _pissed_ when they finally got Hayate back to the hospital.

As Signum and Shamal were quite vehemently chewed out, Hayate and Vita packed up a few belongings and prepared for a slightly longer excursion. Nanoha had invited them to a Christmas party at her house, but had asked them to be a little late. Apparently she and her parents had something to discuss…

The door opened as Vita finished helping Hayate back into her wheelchair— she _would_ learn to fly, darn it!— and the pretty, pink-haired nurse stepped into the room. "Leaving already I see," she said, smiling as Hayate put the small bag of belongings on her lap.

Hayate shook her head. "Only a little while. My treatments not done, but Ishida-sensei's said it was all right to go meet some friends… after she's given us a piece of her mind. What are you doing here, Tsukino-san?"

The nurse smiled. "Actually, I came to say goodbye. I'm leaving to go back home, you see."

"Oh," Hayate said. "Back to your family?"

"Yes," she said. "But I'm sure we'll meet again, Yagami-san."

A smile. "Call me Hayate-chan."

The smile was returned. "Good bye, Hayate-chan. Until we meet again." She turned to leave.

"Wait!" Hayate called. "What do I call you, Tsukino-san?"

The nurse paused, already half out the door, and looked over her shoulder. The smile on her face was mysterious. "My friends called me Chibi-Usa. Most people these days call me Small Lady, though."

Hayate and Vita blinked.

The nurse's smile widened. "Chao Lingshen sends her regards," she said, slipping out the door as Vita pounced, grabbing the closing knob and wrenching the door open.

The hallways outside was devoid of pink-haired nurses.

...

Nanoha opened the door that afternoon to find Suzuka and Alisa waiting. "Thank you for coming," she said. "I think I owe you an explanation."

"About time," Alisa grumbled. Nanoha seemed to shrink slightly at this, but Alisa smiled to show there weren't any hard feelings. Not much, anyway.

"Let's go to the living room," Nanoha said. "Lindy-san, Fate-chan, and Yuuno-kun are already there."

Suzuka blinked. "Yuuno-kun?"

"You'll see," Nanoha said. "Shall we?"

Indeed, Lindy was there, kneeling in a blue outfit that looked strangely like a military uniform, though from no country either girl could recognize. Kneeling next to her, Fate smiled at them with some trepidation. As they got settled in, Nanoha kept glancing towards the door and out the windows.

"Are we still waiting for someone?" Momoko said.

"He probably got held up," Nanoha said, now sounding strangely nervous. "But I suppose we can start without him."

Lindy nodded, and began to explain. Everyone listened in shocked fascination as Lindy recounted the story of the Jewel Seeds, about how Nanoha had assisted them in the gathering. Yuuno had demonstrated his nature by changing into a boy, a stunt that had made Alisa at first pale, then turn crimson in either mortification or rage.

"You were with us at the hot springs!" she cried, barely held back by Nanoha and Fate. Even Miyuki had narrowed her eyes, and she was clutching the lamp next to her like she wanted to use it for something.

"I _told_ Nanoha bringing me to the women's baths was a bad idea!" Yuuno protested his innocence, using an amused Lindy as a human shield. "She wouldn't listen!"

"You hadn't told me you were a boy yet," Nanoha said.

"_I thought you already knew!_"

"What kind of girl would insist on bringing a boy to the women's baths if she knew he was a boy?" Alisa demanded.

"It's_ Nanoha_!" Yuuno protested. "She kept going on and on about wanting her friends to have fun together!"

"Hey!" Nanoha cried, not sure but somehow sensing this was a jibe at her in some way.

"He has a point," Suzuka said, causing Alisa to simmer down to mere grumbling.

"_Suzuka-chan!_" Nanoha pouted, making Fate giggle.

They had all settled down as Lindy continued her story. There were shocked expressions as she related the search for the Book of Darkness, and the battles that had followed. People kept turning to stare at Nanoha and Fate, and even Yuuno at times. Nanoha's parents looked absolutely flabbergasted.

"How could we not notice this?" Kyouya said.

Miyuki, who also looked perturbed, said, "Well, it could be that Nanoha's obliviousness is hereditary."

Everyone blinked at her. "Come again?" Nanoha said.

"You how Nanoha sometimes doesn't notice things when she's concentrating on something," Miyuki said. "Like how she didn't notice me taking some of the wrapping paper when she was wrapping presents a few days ago."

Nanoha frowned. "So I _did_ start with more wrapping paper!"

"Oh!" Suzuka said. "You mean like how Kyouya-san sometimes doesn't notice I'm in the room when he starts making out with Shinobu-neesan?"

Kyouya stared at Suzuka in horror. "When have I ever done _that_?"

"The last time was yesterday, when you were going to take Onee-chan on a date," Suzuka said. "I was reading in the parlor when you came in, and when Shinobu-nee came in you sort of pounced on her and ended up on the couch. I passed within three feet of you leaving the room and you didn't say a thing."

"You were in the room?-!" Kyouya exclaimed.

"Or when Mom and Dad…" Miyuki coughed delicately. "In the kitchen… sometimes…"

Momoko turned to stare at her daughter. Miyuki blushed and turned away, muttering about how she didn't see anything. Kyouya and Nanoha blinked the blink of the blissfully innocent.

"I don't miss things like that!" Nanoha declared , then looked worried. "Do I?"

Yuuno patted her on the shoulder, making the male Takamachis eye him suspiciously. He ignored it with all the nerve of someone who'd dealt with Neo-Ingvalt extremist groups trying to steal Lost Logia from his dig sites at the age of seven armed with nothing but an illegal chemical-powered, rotary cartridge feed, mass-based weapon and a whip. "You don't miss the _important_ stuff," Yuuno said, then paused to make sure he had his shield up. "Though you sometimes forget I'm still in the room when you change your clothes."

"_HOOEEEEEEEE!-!-!_" Nanoha cried, borrowing Sakura's exclamation.

"What?" Kyouya said flatly.

"I leave right away," Yuuno said. "She sometimes forgets to close the door too."

"Actually, that's true," Miyuki said.

Fate stared at Yuuno, a strange expression on her face. "You… Nanoha… seen…"

"Of course not!" Yuuno said. "I'm a gentleman! And I'm perfectly aware of the fact people in this house will kill me if anything like that happens!"

"Huh?" Nanoha said, not really catching that last.

"Nothing Nanoha-chan," Yuuno said. Male eyes narrowed some more.

LIndy sighed. "Anyway, Nanoha-chan has been a big help to the TSAB," she said. "She's an excellent mage, and quite talented. I'm sure that in a few years–"

"Lindy-san, we've talked about this," Nanoha said, in the tones of someone who, indeed, has had this conversation before. "I'm not joining the TSAB. I'm quite happy with my work here already."

Lindy sighed. "A real pity. In a couple of years, you'd have been a great Ace."

"I'm fine being what I am," Nanoha said.

There was a knock on the door, a hard, firm knock that nevertheless managed to be polite.

Nanoha was up like a shot. "He's here!" she cried, hurrying to the door. Everyone exchanged confused looks as they heard the door open, and there were muffled words. There was the sound of footwear being removed, and the swish of fabric.

The person who walked in behind Nanoha, wearing slightly glowing green slippers had jaws dropping to the ground.

"S… S…" Alisa tried to say.

"S-su…" Kyouya himself tried.

"Superman-sama?-!" Miyuki finally accomplished. It came out as a squeak.

The Man of Steel smiled. "I'm sorry for being late," he said, with only the faintest trace of an accent. "There was a giant turtle blocking shipping lanes in Hong Kong. I hope I haven't inconvenienced anyone." He glanced at Nanoha. "I heard you had an interesting night yesterday."

Nanoha shrugged. "Nothing we couldn't handle."

Everyone just stared. Nanoha coughed slightly to get their attention. "Um, there's something else I need to tell everyone too," Nanoha said. She held up her left hand. A glowing green ring encircled her middle finger. "Um, you know how I'm never around when Green Lantern-chan shows up…?"

As Nanoha began a new round of explanations, Fate saw a flash of green and a glimpse of movement. She glanced sideways briefly, and her eyes widened.

At the window, a smiling blonde child, a green hood over her head, waggled her fingers at Fate in a wave. She winked one eye, blew her a kiss, and disappeared as if she were never there.

Fate suddenly felt very, very warm. She smiled, and turned back to what Nanoha was saying…

...

**- Never The End...**

...

A/N: I'M IN DESPAIR! MY RESEARCH FAIL HAS LEFT ME IN DESPAIR!

Apparently, Caliburn DOES have mentioned attack properties, mostly granting immortality and releasing a 'light' that burns away everything it touches. I suppose the barrier-piercing I mentioned can be a concentrated form of that, though, so no harm…

Hey, remember that crybaby scream attack of Sailor Moon's from the _very first episode?_ No? Well, I did!

Thanks for reading! See you in the epilogue and the next series! Fill in the TvTropes page, dattebayo!

Please review, C&C welcome.

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


	29. Epilogue: End of A's

A/N: someone wanted the Wolkenritter punished… I hope this suffices.

...

Takamachi Nanoha of 2814

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Epilogue: End of A's

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story. If I did… well, this would all be canon. WARNING: MAY CAUSE HEAD EXPLOSION! PLEASE HELP FILL IN THE TVTROPES PAGE!

...

_**White Primate Murder**_

He opened his eyes. Blank, soulless, without pity, remorse or anything resembling emotion, they surveyed the area about him. To his back, the sea rose and crashed, spray exploding into the air above, uncaring of his birth. Like the first life, like the Fey Folk, the Titans, the Gods, and Aphrodite before him, the sea had made him out of itself, the source of all life from great mother Gaia.

He rose, virgin untested limbs struggling to support his form for the first time. His pale white hide shone in the darkness of the night, tail lashing out. His gaze rose, and he set his eyes upon the unnatural glow of light before him, on steel and concrete towers that had no place on Earth.

His expression never changing, he began to stalk for prey…

...

_**Magical Shinji?**_

Matou Shinji, who'd been in a coma for a while and had probably been forgotten by readers for even longer, lay on his bed aboard the TSAB's base, staring at the ceiling, and wondered what to do with his life. _Seriously_ wondered what to do with it.

To go back to a world where he had no magic? Or join a group that called him one of the most powerful mages they have discovered?

He smirked.

No brainer.

Which was good, since he only had slightly more than that to work with.

...

_**Lost And Found**_

"It's here," Shamal said as she led Tuxedo Mask and Gilgamesh into the Yagami Garage. Lacking a car, they'd mainly used the place for storage.

The Senshi of Earth– such as he was– carefully followed the blonde, very much aware that Gilgamesh was likely just waiting for the faintest excuse to attack. Forgiving enemies had not been popular in old Uruk. Doing unspeakable things to them as an example had been, and the Wolkenritter still ranked _**VERY**_ high on the former Servant's enemies list.

Shamal led them to a long object covered by a tarp. Reaching almost to their hips, it was about eight feet long, and seemed to be covered with angular surfaces, from what they could make out on top of it. Shamal gripped the tarp to pull it off, but Mamoru beat her to it, grabbing a handful and gesturing for Gilgamesh to do the same. The blond scowled slightly, but did as ordered, and they both pulled the fabric off the object.

A large crystal lay on the floor, and within a man lay, eyes closed as if in a coffin. Gilgamesh sucked in a breath, falling to his knees to get a better look at the sleeping face. Mamoru managed not to do the same, but only because a stack of boxes was in the way.

Hands shaking, Gilgamesh pressed his hands on the surface of the crystal. "B-brother…?" he gasped, staring down at the slumbering Jadeite…

...

_**Prana Restoration**_

Saber threw back her head, letting out a moan as Shiro, er, _restored_ her prana. After the battle against the Defense Program the day before, her levels were dangerously low. Shiro was remedying that, with Rin once more 'supervising' since he still couldn't properly initiate. Rin, her part done, was occupying her time tending to parts Shiro was too… _busy_ to see to properly.

The transfer completed, Saber made a very loud confirmatory sound as she fell back on the bed, her bright green eyes staring blissfully at the ceiling as her brilliant blonde hair stuck to her sweaty face and neck. Shiro collapsed to one side of her on his narrow bed, spent in several ways.

"Hmm…" Rin murmured, idly pushing Saber's hair out of the Servant's eyes. "You're looking good. Hey, your eyes are back to normal…how do you feel?"

Tired as she was, Saber managed to give her a look, eys half-lidded and smoky, never mind what color they were.

"Oh, right," Rin said, giggling.

For a while, the three of them just lay there, panting.

"So…" Rin said, smiling mischievously, reaching down and making Saber gasp. "Another round?"

"I think you need to get an answer before you do that…" Shiro said, shakily pushing himself up to his elbow. Saber, and then Rin pulled at him, their lips meeting, and he began to move back in position…

Someone knocked _very_ loudly on his wall. "_Either keep it down or let me join in!"_ Kuro yelled through the wall.

Rin hung her head, giving Shiro the stink eye. "Your sister is a real pest, Emiya."

"_Hey, as a little sister, I have rights!"_ Kuro cried.

"_Kuro, __**would you shut up and let me pretend I can't hear anything?**_" Illya's voice came through the wall, followed by the sound of a pillow hitting a loli. It was a sound Shiro had learned to identify from all the times he'd heard Illya hit Kuro with one.

There was a more muffled wall banging. "_Shiro-san!"_ he heard Sella's voice cry, muffled by having to pass through Kuro and Illya's room. "_Remember_ _your place as the son of the house! You shouldn't engage in debauchery! Kuro-sama, you mustn't be corrupted by Shiro-san into an unnatural and unwholesome path!"_

_"Oh, shut up, Sella!"_ Kuro cried back. "_We can __**hear**__ you when you and Liz go at it! You're right in the next room!"_

From across the hall, Saber could clearly hear Irisviel's voice. "_Now Shiro-kun, remember, a proper gentleman lets Saber-san come first! Are you starting with her— I __**have**__ to tell him these things Kiritsugu, how else is he supposed to know? Yes, I understand that, but Saber-chan is my friend too, and I want her to be as satisfied as I am with you… No, of course not Kiritsugu, I have you. Well, yes, but— ah! Oh, yes, there! Ah! KIRITSUGU!"_

_"MY EARS!" _Illya screamed, clearly hearing the same thing.

"_Come on Oniichan, I can help in there…"_ Kuro called in what she probably supposed was a seductive voice, before the sounds of a fierce pillow beating echoed through the wall. "_Damn it Illya, stop cockblocking me! Ow!"_

"Maybe we should just go to sleep…" Shiro suggested.

In response, Rin reached off the bed into the pocket of her discarded skirt and pulled out three pairs of earplugs.

Saber held out her hand, and stuck a pair into her ears.

Shiro was outvoted.

...

_**Super Myths!**_

_Who are the M0thB0st0rs? 0dam S0vage…_

"Stop sparking my ass!"

… _and J0mie Hyn0m0n..._

"I was nowhere near that grassy knoll or President Kennedy."

_Between them, more than thirty years of special effects experience. Joining them, T0ri B0ll0ci…_

"I used to be a Wayans Brother, you know. But I left before they became famous…"

… _K0ri Byr0n…_

"Okay, no more myths about Ouija boards, mirrors, or anyone named Bloody anything! Can we get a superhero here please?"

…_and Gr0nt Im0h0ra…_

"Someone beat me to building a robot girl? NOOOOOO!"

_They don't just tell the myths - they put them to the test!_

"Well J0mie, what have we got today?"

"Well Ad0m, we've got something of a superhero myth going on."

"We're not testing the ascender again, are we? Because I know we've got a lot of letters from Gotham and Star City and—"

"No, we're not doing that again. No, the myth we're testing is about Superman. Specifically, is he really: faster than a speeding bullet; more powerful than a locomotive; and able to leap buildings in a single bound."

"Huh. Sounds like a tough myth to test."

"Well, normally yes, but today we've got an honorary Mythbuster to help us."

"Hey Ad0m, J0mie."

"Holy bleepity bleeping bleep! It's Superman!"

"So, shall we get this myth started?"

"…"

"That's Ad0m's way of saying yes."

...

_**Punishment?**_

Yagami Hayate was in hell. She struggled not to cry as agony shot up her arm, trying to persevere. But it hurt… it hurt so _much! _How could such pain exist in this world? Who could devise such senseless cruelty, such unspeakable torment? She was not going to cry, she was not going to cry, she was not going to cry! She was a big girl now! She was a strong girl! She was a frickin' _**Magical Girl**_ for crying out loud! Hero of Justice, Destroyer of Worlds, awesome badass, etcetera, etcetera!

She really, really wanted to kill herself. Her chest pains were nowhere _near_ this agonizing!

Nearby, Vita was gritting her teeth, determined not to break, fist clenched in defiance. The fact she was making stepped-on kitten sounds from her throat was not at all relevant. Signum's face was a mask of grim determination, chewing her lower lip as one hand clenched the chair she was trapped in, the metal arm rest slowly buckling and deforming under her grip. Shamal had already broken, begging for mercy as tears streamed down her face. Poor Zafira was suffering worst of all, his hand shaking uncontrollably, looking like he wanted to tear his own throat out. And Reinforce…

Reinforce sat, seemingly catatonic, head bowed as if overcome, broken. Only her arm still moved, tapping out in the morse code of agony.

The door slid open, and their diabolical torturer walked in, arms full on new hells to inflict, a demonic smile wide over her devilish face. "Still not done?" Nanoha said cheerfully as she put down the latest tall stack of paperwork. "Come on, it's not that hard! Look, I've already filled out my parts of these things. You just need to get into a fun rhythm…"

"I should have killed you when I had the chance…!" Vita choked out as she filled in yet another form for the TSAB… or was it Mahora? Oa? They were all meshing into one painful blur.

"Save the rainforest," Shamal was crying. "Must save the rainforest… stop paper production… this madness must end!"

"It's not paper, it's a paper-like construct." Nanoha frowned, looking annoyed. "Honestly, it's only a little paperwork! It's not going to kill you. Come on, only 482 more forms in triplicate and then we're done!" She smiled a bright, encouraging smile.

Hayate changed her mind. She wasn't bothering with flying spells. The VERY first spell she'd learn was some kind of beam attack so she could shoot Nanoha in the face!

...

_**Picked A 31**__**st**__** Option**_

In the end, Negi took Cassandra to the Christmas Ball, on the basis that she wasn't interested in him. He was learning enough to tell _that_ much.

Cassandra, for her part, didn't see the point of dancing. If all these people wanted to have sex, they should just find a room and do it.

His parents arriving to surprise him was the best present he received that day.

...

_**Prey**_

He entered the city, passing unseen amongst the humans. They who had lost their bond to Gaia were blind to his presence. That is, most of them were.

His prey saw him, glimpsing him out of the corner of their eye. The pale gleam of his hide stood out, but he didn't linger. Though they were his prey, they weren't the right prey. He was a predator. A predator didn't strike those in the middle of the herd. A predator waited, biding their time. They marked one out, one who was weak, or injured, or sick, or cut off from the herd. A predator corners, isolating, seeing to it that no matter how much it called for hep, no help would come. And then… they struck.

He saw others like him, those borne of Gaia, part of Gaia. Youki and Ayakashi, their forms veiled in a disgusting parody of humanity. The dark ones, so young, borne of the darkness of humanity itself, wearing false flesh or dwelling in the shadows, waiting to drag the unwary back into the world, at one with the mother. Vampires, twisted parodies of perfection, still unable to destroy humanity after all these years. They had been a mistake. No predator who knows their part in the world would truly eat their prey to extinction. That was a human defect, and the children of the night were not human enough to make that error.

His crimson, unblinking eyes came to rest on one of his prey. He marked her out of the pack and began to stalk…

...

_**Dark Fragments**_

It's the little things.

No one had bothered to check within the sub-dimensional tube that had sent the Defense Program hurtling into space. The TSAB hadn't. Nanoha, for all her thoroughness, had overlooked it. Yuuno _might_ have thought to check, except he'd been getting the Big Brother "If You Hurt Her" speech from Kyouya, the Fatherly "They'll Never Find The Body" speech from Shiro, the "I'll Make Your Existence A Living Hell And No One Will Ever Know" speech by Momoko, and the Big Sister "If You Touch My Imouto Or My Manga Again" speech from Miyuki, so he was kinda distracted.

Within the tube, Grail-Tainted fragments gestated, developing based on data observed or uploaded by the Defense Program before destruction… which wasn't as gone as one would think…

...

_**All-Star Supergirl**_

Kara In-Ze, a.k.a. Kara— or Karen, depending— Kent, a.k.a. Supergirl, the last survivor of the Argo colony, felt like taping her foot in impatience. Green Lantern had asked to meet her to discuss… something. The cute little girl had been pretty vague as to details, and from what Kara had gathered, that wasn't like her. From what Clark had said, the girl was very definite about things.

"Kara-san? I hope you haven't been waiting long."

Kara yelped, spinning around in midair. Green Lantern was floating behind her, holding a glowing green picnic basket, looking politely concerned. "Whoa! Did you just sneak up on me?"

"I was practicing my stealth mode," Nanoha said. "Sorry if I startled you. Um… Kara-san… may I ask why you wanted to meet here?" _Here_ being a random spot in the Pacific Ocean.

"Paranoia," Kara admitted. "You never know where Lex Luthor has a camera."

The two shuddered at the thought, though probably for different but related reasons.

"So… why'd you call me?" Kara asked.

In answer, Nanoha held up the basket and opened it. Two cats, one black, one white, poked their heads out.

Kara blinked. "_Ookay_... I think I'm going to need some context."

"They wanted to speak to you," Nanoha said. "Luna, Artemis, this is Kara-san."

Kara paused. "Okay, is this some Earth thing I'm not getting?"

"Hello Kara-san," the black one said, speak with what sounded like a pseudo-English accent. "There's a matter we wish to discuss with you."

Kara stared. "Ooooooookay… I might need a bit more context…"

...

_**Dirty Old Men**_

Eriol Hiiragizawa, reincarnation of Clow Reed, sipped at his tea. The London Cafe made an excellent brew, one of the few such establishments which he approved of, which was why he'd arranged for the meeting to be here. His companion, in contrast, was enjoying a coffee liberally imbued with rum and topped with a generous amount of whipped cream. Wizard Marshall Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, clad in a concealing coat and wide-brimmed hat, not to mention a few protection spells, really didn't seem the type, but he was addicted to the things. Sometimes he'd even claimed he'd invented them, to which Eriol called bullshit. After all, _he_ had obviously invented them a hundred years ago, having seen their future existence in a vision.

See, _this_ was why they never invited that stuffy Jason Blood or that ass Constantine to these things. No sense of humor. That, and Constantine was liable to find a way to get them killed. The ass.

"I told you making those Kaleidosticks the way I specified was a good idea," Eriol began by way of conversation.

"Yes, yes, you were right," Zelretch said in annoyance. "_Again_. You don't have to be so smug about it."

"Of course I must," Eriol said cheerfully. "That's the way of the magi, isn't it? When in London, after all. Besides, I won the bet."

"You cheated _somehow_," Zelretch said, sounding childishly petty. "I _know_ you did!"

"For shame, Zelretch," Eriol chided as he picked up one of his tea biscuits and broke off a piece. "Why would you say something like that?" He popped the piece into his mouth.

"Because _I_ would have found a way to cheat somehow!" Zelretch snapped. "How could you have predicted the results of the _two_ meetings of our creations?-!"

"My foresight defeats your Second Magic, vampire. Suck it up and deal with it," Eriol said. "The girls get to keep the Kaleidosticks. But don't worry. I'm not petty. I'll pick up today's check."

Zelretch threw a cinnamon stick at him, finished off his coffee and took off. He was obviously pissed, since he didn't think to abuse Eriol's footing the bill.

Eriol smiled, taking another sip. "All according to plan…" he murmured.

Someone sat on the seat Zelreth had vacated. "Well?" the girl said, smiling impishly.

"I won," Eriol said. "Thank you for informing me last century."

"See? Cheaters _do _prosper!" Chao Lingshen smiled, leaning back and raising a hand to order. "Now, I need you to pay me back."

"If it is reasonable," Eriol said.

Chao's smiled became slightly… _evil._ "Can you 'forget' to tell Sakura about the 53rd Card until she starts to notice it…?"

Eriol grew still. "Daidouji-san will murder me."

"Big invincible sorcerer like you, you'll be fine," Chao assured him. A beat. "Maybe."

"She will tear my still-beating heart from my chest with her bare lady-like hands," Eriol said gloomily, looking at his teacup like he wanted it to be filled with rum too. "She will rip out my intestines and force-feed them to me. Then she will stop being nice."

"Oh, well, if it's too hard, I can just go over to Zelretch-san and—" Chao said, preparing to get up.

"_**Fine.**_" Eriol managed. He gave Chao a level look. "You are a twisted, manipulative young woman, Miss Chao. You remind me greatly of myself."

Chao smiled and winked. "Who do you think taught me?"

Eriol blinked and stared.

Well, not really, but screwing with people was one if the few fun things she could still do, darn it!

...

_**Gift**_

Beneath the hot Bialyan sun, Cassandra Wu-san, Sandra to daring relatives, Lady Shiva anyone who wanted to live, stalked the streets. She was not being touristy. Definitely not. She was doing needful, practical, assassin-y things, like familiarizing herself with the territory, watching out for tails, acclimating to the environment, stuff like that. _Definitely_ not looking for black market knickknacks to use a belated Christmas gifts because she was missing Yelan's party.

Pausing in front of a merchant to check her back trail and _definitely_ not to scope out the things on sale, she picked up a carved blue rock in the shape of a beetle…

...

_**Rivalry?**_

"_Resound,"_ Sakura incanted, hair bleached pale silver, eyes crimson, "_horn of judgement… Ragnarok!"_

The blast ripped at the target, a large rock Yuuno had gotten from somewhere for target practice.

"Yeah!" Sakura cried, dancing a little despite the pain in her magic circuits, circuits whose contents she'd been using for the first time.

"Hmm…" Yuuno said thoughtfully as Hayate stared, open-mouthed. Reinforce just looked intent. "And you say you didn't know you could do this until you saw Hayate-chan use it?"

Sakura shook her head. "No. I… after Kaze-neechan left me, I realized I could still do some things… fly, shoot, Negica Magia Erebea… I think I can do everything she'd ever done while she was in me, though I haven't had time to test the idea… I mean, we were together ten years, and I can't remember _every_ bit of magic she did in that time…"

"But you're sure she never used the Ragnarok spell in that period?" Chrono asked, staring at the target. As the one speaking in the Wolkenriter's behalf, he needed to be present to escort Hayate and those of her knights present.

Sakura shook her head. "No. Never."

Amy and Shamal were going through the Linker Core scan data from Sakura. "I… I don't understand," the knight said, confused. "Her core… it's… potentially, it's greater than even Hayate's, and it seems to contain an un-Hayate-ly amount of data… but that can't be. No human her age could possibly have acquired so much unless…"

"Unless it was _put_ there," Reinforce said, also looking at Sakura strangely. She felt unnerve by the girl's stare. They were too knowing, as if she was intimately familiar with Reinforce, a state of being not even her mistress possessed yet. "If what you say is correct… well, inside me is data derived from Makiri Zouken on the implantation of magic circuits and their data through crest worms. Theoretically, such information _could_ be evolved to implant someone with the information through less invasive means, especially if the person and been… _prepared_… beforehand, but…"

"But that sort of research could take years," Yuuno opined. "Decades even."

There was a silence.

"I've always gotten the impression Kaze-neechan had lived a VERY long time," Sakura said. "Maybe long enough to do the research…"

There was a silence as the nerdy types digested that.

Hayate, not being the _right_ kind of nerdy type, felt no reason to respect said silence. "That's _so_ unfair!" she cried, pouting at Sakura. "How come you learned to do one of my spells on your own before I did?-!"

"Technically, I suppose I'm remembering how to do it, rather than outright learning," Sakura pointed out.

"If that's so, it's possible you know everything about magic Reinforce ever will…" Amy said, awed. "_Everything_ she knows now, and ever will know, right up until the day she dies."

"Oh, that's so stupidly broken..." Hayate complained, slumping. "What kind of broken mage are you?"

"Hmm…" Sakura mused, amused. "The Broken Mage… kinda catchy… something's missing, though…"

"She's like the Infinite Library," Yuuno said thoughtfully. "All the magical knowledge of Reinforce-san… but without an index, or even a hint as to what she knows…"

"Actually, she _does have _an index," Amy pointed out, emphasizing with a gesture. "Hayate-chan and Reinforce. For a start, she knows everything they can do, she just doesn't know _what_ she knows…"

The two girls exchanged a long look.

"Well…" Sakura said. "It seems I'm in _your_ care, Hayate-chan…"

Hayate, still looking a bit miffed and indignant, suddenly smiled. "What's say we make this interesting… Broken-née-san…"

Rival, huh? Well, now Hayate understood why the other her had called this girl that…

...

_**2814.2**_

"ALL RIGHT YOU POOZERS! YOU'RE HERE BECAUSE YOU'RE _**SCUM**_! YOU'RE JUST FANCY ANATOMY TO PUT A RING ON! BUT I PROMISE YOU POOZERS, BY THE TIME I GET DONE WITH YOU, YOU'D HAVE _**EARNED**_ THOSE RINGS, AND CAN KICK THE ASS OF ANY POOZERS STUPID ENOUGH TO PUT UP A FIGHT YOU COME ACROSS! NOW, DO ANY OF YOU POOZERS HAVE ANY QUESTIONS?"

A hand came up. It took a while to notice since even raised, it was still significantly below head-level of most of the lined-up cadets. "Um, drill sergeant Kilowog…?"

"WHAT IS IT, 2814? Er, 2814.2?"

"I've already gotten this speech from 2814.1... Can we skip to the actual training?"

"Oh, you want _training_, do you poozer…"

Yuuno's fellow trainees experienced new level of pain and suffering, and were introduced to new levels of loathing for Yuuno, who kept wondering when they'd go beyond the rudimentary stuff Nanoha had already taught him…

...

_**Magical**_

"So we _do_ have magic?" Alisa said impatiently as that space non-wizard lady that was awfully close to Fate's brother Chrono put down the scanning wand thing after finishing with Suzuka.

"That much was obvious from you being caught in the barrier," Amy said, sighing. "We just can't tell what kind it _is. _Over a hundred different magic styles in the TSAB database and not one match!"

"That's because each of those 'styles' is essentially just a different way of manipulating the same kind of magical energy," Nanoha said as she walked into the room, several adults in tow. "On Earth, we have a lot more variety, in both energy source and application. Alisa, Suzuka, I'd like you to meet Fate-sensei— Doctor Fate— Zatanna-san, Blood-san, and Lee Yelan-san. They've graciously consented to help find out what kind of magic you have."

Zatanna walked over to the two girls, looking at them intently. "You're not some kind of ghost are you?" she asked Alisa.

Alisa frowned. "Of course not! I think I'd know whether I was dead or alive!"

_Somewhere, the girl who didn't know she was Greta Hayes sneezed, which was bizarre, since she technically had nothing to sneeze _with.

Zatanna smiled. "You'd be surprised how many ghosts are in denial." She turned to Suzuka. "Hmm… you're not a vampire or vampire-descended by any chance? Do you have a close relative who's a blood drinking Youki or Ayakashi?"

Suzuka blinked at that. "No, not that I know of…" she said nervously.

_Somewhere, Shinobu sneezed, causing a brief humorous interlude before she returned to her threesome._

Zatanna exchanged looks with her companions. Doctor Fate was already pulling books from out of a giant glowing ankh. "Well, let's see what we have here," the Logomancer said, and the examination began…

...

_**Replacement Technician**_

"Shiro-san?" Luvia exclaimed in concern as Shiro and Saber stumbled into the room, Saber's hair and skin washed out, her eyes gold. "What is the matter?"

"Is Rin here, Luvia-san?" Shiro asked.

"No, it's her day off," Luvia said, trying to keep how miffed she was hidden. "I must say, I'd think you show more concern for your own Ministra Magus. Perhaps I can assist in whatever the problem is."

Shiro had the grace to look embarrassed, aware of the Pactio Card in his pocket. "It's… it's Saber. I need to give her Prana, but Rin usually does the… that is, she… um…"

"I see," Luvia interrupted. She was blushing fiercely, eyes flicking towards Saber. She coughed. "Well, I suppose if Saber's life is in danger, I can make the sacrifice. I shall assist you in the… transfer."

Shiro blinked. "Ah, no, she's not in danger, she's just feeling ho— Ah! Saber!"

Saber took her heel off his toes. "Shiro," she said imperiously, eyeing Luvia in a way that made the Finnish girl blush some more. "Let her. Where is the bedroom?"

When Rin found out, her scream of outrage was heard for miles.

When _Kuro_ found out, _her_ scream was heard slightly farther…

...

_**Sinister**_

_"In blackest day, in brightest night,_

_"Beware your fears made into light!_

_"Let those who try to stop what's right,_

_"Burn like my power... Sinestro's might!"_

Sinestro, having _finally_ escaped from the sciencells of Oa— he was a former Green Lantern _and _an archeologist, he was just _**THAT**_ awesome!— finished charging his ring. It glowed with a harsh, golden light, mirroring the light from the bright yellow battery he'd empowered it from. The world he was on was one of those nameless affairs that hadn't had a proper designation attached to it in millennia, ever since the last sentient species on it blew themselves up experimenting with radioactive isotopes. He had discovered it in his younger days as a Green Lantern, and would have left it alone but for some unusual formations his trained archeologist eye told him were not natural. He had felt whimsical at the time, indulging in his old profession and had come across…

This.

Deep, deep underground, in buried, ancient chambers closer to the core than the crust that by his analysis had remained undiscovered through the evolution and annihilation of at least three sentient species, inscribed with Ancient Oan, nearly Malthusian, iconography stating, in symbols larger than he was, "Do Not Touch! Failed Experiments! Really Stupid Ideas! Seriously, Don't Mess With This Shit!", Sinestro contemplated his old discovery.

"Really," he mused, not for the first time, "would it have cost _that_ much to properly destroy and dispose of these?"

In the even, golden light of a gigantic yellow central battery, Sinestro regarded the transparent cylinder filled with glowing golden rings similar to the one he wore, in the center of the chamber whose walls were lined with glowing personal power batteries.

"Perhaps it is time I share these gifts with the universe," he mused aloud, twirl his mustache. "I need not be selfish in my vengeance… the Guardians have many enemies… we shall meet again, 2814…"

He considered that, sighed, and slumped slightly. "Seriously, I need to get over that brat… it's emasculating, having a child as a nemesis…"

...

_**Another World**_

"Well?" Negi Springfield asked.

Sailor Mars pursed her lips, adjusting her cloak and identity obfuscation sunglasses as she looked over the city of Ostia and its floating islands. "I think I can help…"

...

_**The Beginning**_

Yamaguchi Akiko was having a perfectly average day. Wake up, shut off her alarm clock and snuggle back under the cover, doze, turn off her second alarm clock, get up, go to the bathroom, bathe, get dressed, go down, eat, feel glad she was an only child, meet her friends at the bus, go to school, head out with friends, have fun, head home, hear mysterious voice calling her name…

_My name is Incubator. The world needs your help. Make a contract with me, and awaken your potential as a magical girl!_

Well, what a girl supposed to say to a proposal like that?

"Okay!"

...

**- To be continued in Kinomoto Sakura of 2814 and Takamachi Nanoha of 2814: LeaguerS**

...

A/N: PLEASE CONTINUE SUPPORTING THIS SERIES!

Yes. I know about the Shiva thing. Different universe where she's related to Syaoran, different background.

Before anyone asks, it's a low rent, watered-down, New-52 sissy version of Constantine. I think I'll kill him off in the time skip.

Yes, before he was a Green Lantern, and then evil, Sinestro was an Archaeologist. That means he's a peer of Indiana Jones, Lara Croft, Yuuno, and Hawkman. Ever tried keeping those guys in a cell?

Please review, C&C welcome.

To paraphrase the Bond movies… Takamachi Nanoha of 2814 will return!

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.


End file.
